


Say Live, Let Die

by bat (bateroo)



Category: Lost Boys (Movies)
Genre: Complete, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-02
Updated: 2017-07-27
Packaged: 2019-11-15 06:43:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 35
Words: 54,079
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18068534
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bateroo/pseuds/bat
Summary: The Emersons quietly cleaned up the damages, buried the remains of the vampires, and assumed their supernatural ordeal was over. But they were wrong. Dead wrong.Some things don't stay buried and aren't easily forgotten. Vampires always want revenge.A sequel, of sorts, to the events of "The Lost Boys" film.





	1. "there is a price you're gonna pay"

**Author's Note:**

> This is not a pretty, "happy" story. There is violence and brutality, anger and revenge. The characters you know and love are here but they've been changed by the events of the film.
> 
> Writer's Note: Any characters, settings, events, etc. created for and found in the movie "The Lost Boys" belong to Warner Bros and the respective creators/writers. Used without express permission for the sole purpose of fan fiction, without the intent of infringement. Please don't sue me. All original characters, the plot and events of "Say Live, Let Die" and its original attributes were created by and belong solely to the author. They are not to be used/manipulated by anyone else for any other project.
> 
> This story was written in response to all the horrible sequels Warner Bros has authorized over the years, be they film or comic books. Nearly ten years of anger drove me to write this because I'm ridiculously tired of the characters being used and abused. Even though the original film had a resolute ending, "The Lost Girls" never happened and never will so please let the characters rest in peace already. David died on that workbench, let him go.
> 
> Of course, fan fiction is a whole other beast; he and the other Boys will *always* live on in stories.
> 
> About three-fourths of the way through writing this story I met David himself, Kiefer Sutherland. For those brief few seconds he was kind and generous and basically validated all the time and energy I have invested in following his career over the past 30 years. I may not have gotten a chance to talk to him for very long but I think he knew I was a Lost Boys fan (might have been the Lost Boys pins on my coat.)
> 
> Thanks to the readers, both here and elsewhere, since this story has been published in multiple places. It's been fun watching the reactions to the surprises being revealed. I hope you enjoyed this wild ride.
> 
> Songs I relied on heavily while writing this story AKA the soundtrack:  
> Not So Pretty Now - Nine Inch Nails  
> Down - Gravity Kills  
> Welcome to the Jungle - Guns N' Roses  
> Never - Gravity Kills  
> Head Down - Soundgarden  
> Firestarter - The Prodigy  
> Down - Stone Temple Pilots  
> Tighter & Tighter - Soundgarden  
> Blame - Gravity Kills  
> Love, Hate, Love - Alice in Chains  
> Cry Little Sister - The Anix  
> Live and Let Die - Wings

"Start digging."

Michael's back molars ground together as his palms snagged on the old wooden handle of the shovel. Slicked with sweat, and a bit sticky from blood, he ignored the splinter that sunk deep under the skin of his left palm.

His gaze connected with Star's. The panic and pain in her eyes fueled his anger. She was helpless in the matter; the gash on her temple bled slowly now, gumming together the dark curls that framed her face. The kitchen towel was an effective gag; Michael's leather belt looped and knotted around her wrists tied her arms behind her back. Star was on her knees, one foot bare, having lost the slipper somewhere between the house and the field.

They both knew she could try but she'd never out run the gun.

Said gun that was currently aimed at Michael's head. The black-gloved finger on the trigger was steady, not itchy. Their attacker was precise, methodical, seemed to have drawn up a solid plan that prepared for all eventualities.

The Boys, when they had come for revenge on the Emersons, had relied on brute strength and righteous anger. Paul and Dwayne had attacked in brutal fashion, underestimating the tenacity of the Frogs and Sam. Well, more like Nanook and Sam, but the Frogs still claimed Paul's death for their own maximum body count.

David had hung back, playing a longer game with psychological twists, but still miscalculated Michael's desire to be human. And the fact that Grandpa did a hell of a lot of taxidermy projects came in handy.

Not so much right now, to Michael's dismay. He could sure make good use of another pair of horns but there was nothing to use but the shovel and his bare hands.

Michael swallowed hard, his Adam's apple bobbing, licking his lips as he breathed harshly through his mouth. Blood clotted his nose from where the handle of the gun had smashed it. Opening the door had been a huge mistake...

"Stop making eyes at your traitor girlfriend and _dig_ already." The hand holding the gun never wavered, never changed its aim.

Michael snorted and spat before he put the edge of the shovel to the ground and pushed it in. The soil hadn't had much time to settle, was still brown and rocky with clumps of dried grass spread out over the pile.

The cleanup in the aftermath of the vampire attack had disgusted them all but they couldn't live in a house with dead bodies. Well, there'd been only one full corpse. Dwayne was literally in chunks and all that remained of Paul had been a skeleton and the horrific corrosion that his liquefied flesh and blood had done to the pipes. The plumbing replacement was gonna be expensive. Max had burned to ash but Lucy had insisted Grandpa, Michael, and Sam haul away the broken stones of the fireplace just the same. She and Star had cleaned, bleached, and vacuumed their way through the entirety of Grandpa's house for several weeks, removing any trace of the Lost Boys.

They'd wrapped David, horns and all, into an old piece of carpeting. Dwayne had gone into black trash bags; Paul's bones had, too. Grandpa, the Frogs, Sam, and Michael had dug the hole east of the house, in the unused section of pasture on Grandpa's land. David's corpse, the black trash bags, and the thirty-seven vacuum bags that probably contained Max had all gone in.

The dirt had refilled the hole and they had tried to move on with their lives...

Michael dug, the soil easier to remove the second time. It had been dry in Santa Carla, even for a Northern California autumn. It was crumbly and broke easily under the metal of the shovel. The lantern he worked by only illuminated a small patch but he could see the wind pick it up and blow the dust around.

Star whimpered as some of the dirt blew into her eyes, unable to rub it away. It coated the tear tracks that ran down her pale cheeks, making them stand out more. Michael tried to focus on the task at hand, when all he really wanted to do was smack the gun away and tackle their assailant.

"Don't get any bright ideas, Michael. You don't have vampire blood in your veins anymore."

"I'm not," Michael growled softly under his breath. Unfortunately, it was true. The death of Max had undone the half transformation and reverted Michael, Star, and Laddie back to being fully human. Michael knew he'd be no match for the five-foot-two antagonist.

She'd easily subdued both him and Star without much effort, and now that there was a gun in her hand, the odds were even worse.

Rubbing the sweat off his brow with the back of his forearm, Michael blew out a hard breath. He was maybe three feet down now. Another four feet and the trash bags would come into view. The night was growing colder but the work kept him warm. Star was shivering hard, wearing one of her customary thin-strapped tops and a gauzy skirt. There hadn't been time to grab a jacket as they were marched outdoors.

"Dig faster and your troubles will be over all the sooner." The smirk on the dusty rose-colored lips reminded him of another smirk and Michael's stomach clenched hard, the anger churning his stomach.

"What, so you can kill us once you have what you want?" He barked back, gripping the shovel's wooden handle tighter. If only he could break off the end, make it sharp, like a stake...

"Nah. Not my job." The long, corn silk-yellow blonde hair fanned out over the collar of her leather jacket as the girl shook her head. "Don't think for a second I wouldn't enjoy it, because I would. Just not my job."

"Not your job, what the hell does that mean?" Michael resumed digging, half afraid of what the tiny creature meant by that.

"Ask her." The blonde smirked again before her expression turned into mocking surprise. "Oh right, Star's a little muzzled at the moment. Pity she couldn't hold her tongue beforehand but I guess I'll take her silence when I can get it."

Michael stole a glance at the dark-haired girl who knelt on the other side of the blonde. There was fury burning in her brown eyes and she shook her head, her arms straining against the bonds at her wrists.

"I don't understand."

"Of course you don't. You only knew the Lost _Boys_." The blonde clicked her tongue in rebuke. "Max's proud achievement in progeny. Fat lot of good it did him, since he's dead. They're _all_ dead."

"If you know they're dead, why am I digging?" Michael groused. The side of the gun smashed into his already-wounded nose, moving at a speed he couldn't see in the dark. He cried out, dropping the shovel as he clutched his nose, the blood pouring out again. He was pretty sure she'd broken it this time.

"Dig and find out." The blonde answered, holding the gun still trained on him as she lit a cigarette with her other hand. Michael could hear Star crying but refused to look her direction. Shaking his head, trying to clear it, he let the blood run down his face as he picked the shovel up and returned to digging.

Time passed slowly; the moon hung in the dark sky, waning amongst the bright stars. Michael was down into the hole now, the pile of dirt a growing mountain to his right. His mind raced, wondering why Grandpa, his mother, and brother had not returned home. He had counted on them turning up and... and what? What could they do? Maybe outnumber this blonde freak but she had a gun and was obviously a vampire... wasn't she?

"Are you a vampire, too?" Michael ventured as he paused to rub his sweaty face with the sweatshirt he had taken off. The plastic lantern was down in the hole with him, casting shadows upward, making him look all the more like a macabre body snatcher.

"No."

"No?" Michael's brow furrowed in confusion. "A half vampire?"

"No."

"Then how the hell do you move so fast like one?"

The blonde snorted at his naïve assessment of supernatural powers. She got up from where she was crouched at the side of the hole, walking the few steps to where Star was, leaning forward on her knees. She had stopped shivering and was swaying a bit, exhausted from kneeling in the dry dirt for so long.

The muzzle of the gun turned to aim at the dark-haired girl's temple. Her brown eyes went wide in alarm and her lips moved against the kitchen towel, only sounds of fright escaping. Michael moved to climb out of the hole. "Don't you hurt her!"

"Oh, relax, lover-boy." The gun retrained on him, sending him to a sudden halt. "You keep digging. Your gabby girlfriend is going to tell you a story."

The kitchen towel came loose and settled around Star's neck. She coughed and gagged for a bit, groaning. "Michael?"

"What's she talking about, Star?"

Star chanced a glance upwards at the blonde. The action was met with the muzzle of the gun pressing against her temple, floating above it an expressionless face that seemed illuminated even in the dark. "I thought you were gone." She hissed softly.

"I was. Now I'm not." The smirk transformed the face, reminding Star of David's own propensity to smirks. Star flexed her wrists against the leather belt. "You were already smooth-tongued once. Now use your gift of the gab to tell dear Michael what I am."

Michael looked out over the edge of the hole, his face barely seen. Star pleaded silently with her eyes, wishing he would turn and hit the blonde with the shovel, while she was distracted. But Michael didn't seem to understand and did nothing.

"She's a ghoul."

"A _what_??"

"A ghoul, Michael. It's similar to a half vampire. All the powers and abilities but they don't fall asleep during the day and aren't burned by the sun. Don't have to drink blood, either."

Michael stared hard at Star. "You knew that and didn't tell us?"

"I thought they were dead, or fled, after Max... Most of them were only loyal to him. They would have to make their first kill to complete the transformation..."

"Wait, you said you didn't know Max was the secret David was protecting!" Michael growled. Star winced, turning her head away. "But you knew he had these... these _ghoul_ things?"

"Oh, she knew. More than David realized she knew. But I bet she put on a good performance. Star was always a consummate actress. Did she do her little head toss and hair flip for you, Michael?" The blonde was positively giddy.

"Damn it, Star!"

"Michael, I'm sorry..."

"Hellhounds aren't the only vampire protectors. You can't be a vampire these days without someone you can rely on to run your business or do errands. Thorn couldn't exactly pick up dry cleaning or balance the books at the video rental shop. So Max had ghouls."

"Who? Who were Max's ghouls?"

"Your mom worked at the shop, right?"

Michael snarled. "Mom's not a ghoul!"

"Nope, but Maria is." The blonde smiled. "She was top ghoul, too. A distraction for the Boys, to deflect them from taunting Max. All the while managing the store during the day. Pretty solid job security and a nice paycheck, to boot."

"And what, you worked there, too?"

"Michael..." Star tried to warn him. The muzzle dug into the gash on her temple, making her cry out.

"Star!"

"Tell him, Star."

"She... she..." Star gasped against the pain, at the starbursts behind her clenched eyelids. "She was the Boys' ghoul."

There was a loud thunk sound. Michael dropped the shovel in shock, scrambling to the edge of the hole again. He could see Star laying on her side in the dirt, knocked out, her arms still bound behind her. The blonde had hit her over the head with the gun. Moving with calculated grace as she turned back to face Michael, the blonde crouched at the side of the hole again. The gun was aimed at his face.

"You were the Boys' ghoul? _David's_ ghoul?"

"You make it sound more intimate than it was." Her laugh was more of a snort. "So I made sure no one came snooping around the cave. Made sure they had money from Max, taking care of all the odds and ends that only happen during the day. It wasn't glamorous work."

"Was Star supposed to be a ghoul?"

"No." The blonde shook her head. "Too pretty. Not enough smarts where she needed to have them. Smart enough to snare and entangle you in this mess, sure, but not bright enough to realize not everyone was snuffed out. Or she really just loves a long con game, can't really tell which it is with her."

Michael growled.

"Keep digging. I can see the edge of a trash bag." Michael picked up the shovel and continued. "Star, like all the rest of us, we were all Max's pet project. Saving runaways, sheltering us under his wings, helping us become better then we'd been. From trash to thriving, not just surviving."

"The Boys..."

"Were his ultimate success. Four full vampires to do his bidding. Keep Santa Carla small, under his thumb, his seat of power. His mistake was picking teenage boys. Girls are a lot more mature, even at that age, and understand the concept of 'consequences'. Teen boys, eh, not so much concerned about that kind of thing. "

"Where were you when all this happened?"

"Elsewhere." The blonde shrugged. "Max decided in order to get to Lucy he needed a proper carrot, a nice juicy worm on the hook. I refused to be that kind of pathetic patsy. Don't have the temperament to be a simpering twit who bats her long lashes and spreads her legs to try and get her hooks in you."

Michael threw a shovelful of dirt at the blonde. She dogged most of it.

"As I was saying, I wouldn't suit the part. I'm not your type, anyway."

"What, were you David's type?"

He could feel the coldness in the stare she gave him. "I wasn't involved with _any_ of the Boys. It's just smart policy not to sleep with who you work for."

"You're avoiding my question."

"David only ever loved _David_." The blonde brushed some dirt off her jacket. "But you, y _ou killed him_." There was a hint of emotion in her voice.

"Yes, David's dead! I get revenging them but what is the point of this? Why am I digging up the hole?!" Michael yelled, slamming the end of the shovel into the ground. It sank into one of the black plastic trash bags, slicing it open. A foul smell wafted out, making Michael gag.

"Start handing those up." The blonde directed. Michael gagged more but complied, using the shovel to brush off the dirt as the bags became more and more visible. The one the shovel had sliced into contained a part of Dwayne, which explained the smell.

It took ten minutes before the six trash bags were out of the hole and arranged in a group on the topsoil. Four held Dwayne; two to hold all of Paul's bones. The rolled up carpet sat at the bottom of the hole, pillowed underneath by the thirty-seven vacuum bags that covered the floor. It was a disturbingly modern interpretation of an Egyptian tomb.

"Are those... vacuum canister bags?"

"Max." Michael explained.

"Oh. Not much left, huh."

"You don't seem that upset about his demise." The dark-haired human teenager noted.

The blonde shrugged. "We didn't always see eye to eye. He thought a mothering-type would fix the Boys, regain control he'd lost over them. Which meant you lot would be tagging along to make us all one happy family. Some of us didn't agree with that plan."

Michael remembered that David had instructed Star to make him her first kill, the final step to becoming a vampire. Max had said that his plan had been to get Michael and Sam into the fold, to make it easier for Lucy to join him. Apparently Max hadn't taken into account some others' feelings on the matter.

"Where's Maria?"

"Busy, holding down the fort, continuing to manage and run the video store in Max's prolonged absence."

"But people are gonna realize he's dead, sooner or later."

"Why would they? He was opening a second store in Los Gatos; it was common knowledge. He was wealthy. It would be perfectly reasonable to believe he took a long vacation as a well-deserved rest. Most of Santa Carla doesn't ask deep questions about stuff, if you haven't noticed."

Michael wedged his foot between some of the vacuum bags. "I can't lift this out alone."

"And I'm not stupid enough to put the gun down and help you, so we're at an impasse, Michael." The blonde grinned. "Better figure it out."

***

Maria gripped the steering wheel, guiding the sedan off the main road and onto a less maintained street. It wasn't exactly gravel but the black top was crumbling and pitted with potholes.

A glance at the digital clock embedded in the dashboard steadied her. On schedule, maybe even early, nothing to worry about. Her grip on the wheel loosened as she navigated the road, the headlights the only illumination since there were no street lights this far out of town.

Time hadn't given them a break. Maria and some of the others had wanted to wait, to let the dust settle, but delay would result in losses they couldn't afford.

The death of their father figure was a huge blow but Max was pretty thorough in setting up an intricate safety net for his foundlings. There would be money, consistent income from his investments as well as the video store, and his house could always be sold. It sat on valuable real estate and had a killer view.

For now it was central command. Maria had expected some of those that had been sent beyond the city limits to return and the house was big enough to accommodate them. Operations had continued on as normal and would for as long as need be, or until a vote changed them.

"There's a left up ahead, turn there." The voice was soft, almost lost in the roominess of the car.

"You sure you're up to this? You probably should have stayed behind." Maria glanced to her right, towards the front passenger seat. The second occupant of the sedan frowned softly.

"I'm fine, Maria."

"I'll just agree to disagree with that." Maria shook her head and took the turn slowly. The fields that surrounded the road were empty, the darkness thick, sliced through by the headlights. The land sloped upwards at a gentle rate, rising higher as they drove away from sea level.

In the distance she could see the lodge-style house, the front 'yard' decorated by odd pieces of chainsaw art. Lights were on in the windows but nobody was at home. Maria pressed her foot on the gas pedal, increasing their speed. It wouldn't hurt to get there early and start her task sooner than later.


	2. "soon you will be gone"

Wedging his shoulder under the nearest end of the rolled carpet, Michael grunted hard as he pushed it up, the middle balanced precariously on the edge of the hole. He knew corpses were dead weight, literally, but this was a level of ridiculous he couldn't believe. David hadn't weighed _that_ much, had he? Of course, the carpet probably added another ten pounds.

Huffing, Michael pushed again, the far end of the rolled carpet snagging on rocks and clumps of grass that clung to the rocky soil. He pushed as hard as he could, nearly falling on his face against the wall of the hole as the carpet gave up its resistance.

"Nice job."

Michael glared at the blonde, who grinned back at him from the darkness. "You could have helped. It would have gone faster."

"Don't get upset with me. Your girlfriend wasn't much help, either." The blonde shrugged. Star was still unconscious, lying on her side, maybe ten steps away from the hole. "Get out and open this up."

"What? Why?" Michael grabbed his sweatshirt, rubbing it over his sweaty face, smearing the dirt more.

"You keep asking questions but I'm the one with the gun." The blonde growled. "That means you do what I say."

"Bitch," Michael muttered under his breath, setting the lantern on the edge of the hole before hauling himself out.

The blonde rolled her eyes. "Sticks and stones won't break my bones, and name calling is for children."

"That's not how that saying goes."

"I'm a ghoul, Michael. You can try to hurt me but calling me derogatory names isn't where you should start. It just makes me like you even less and question if your mama taught you how to treat a lady right."

"You're no lady." Michael grumbled, stepping over the rolled carpet and assessing where to start. David's black cowboy boots stuck out next to Michael's tennis shoes, the silver spurs sinking into the dry dirt. Towards the middle, the horns stuck up through the jagged slashes Grandpa had cut into the weave to accommodate them. They were barely visible in the weak light of the lantern.

Tugging the macabre bundle farther away from the hole, Michael looked around for a tool to cut the carpet. No such luck. The blonde had divested him of the pocketknife he had taken to carrying since the attack.

"You'll have to pull it up over the horns." The blonde directed. "Don't worry, it won't hurt David."

"That's not who I'm thinking about hurting."

"Man, you bluff a lot don't you, lover boy. Talk a big talk for a human."

"A human who took down three vampires."

"Uh huh. Somehow I don't believe that statement." The blonde shook her head, clicking her tongue in rebuke. "The Frogs talked, you know."

"What?" Michael blinked, his hands fumbling on the ragged edge of carpet. "What do you mean the Frogs talked?"

A bright grin broke out across the blonde's face. "Seriously, you expect me to believe that you haven't wondered how we knew where to find you? That I knew exactly where to make you dig?" Her grin grew bigger, if that was even possible. "That you haven't wondered why your mother, grandfather, and brother didn't come to rescue you?"

"What did you do to my mother and Sammy!?" Michael snarled, advancing on the blonde. She calmly added her free hand around the other wrapped about the grip of the gun, keeping steady aim at Michael's head.

"Does it matter, Michael? You'll see them again soon enough, if you believe in the afterlife."

Taking a few more steps towards her, Michael yelled in rage. The blonde did not flinch or show fear but her thumb pulled down the hammer, the click sound stopping Michael from moving closer.

"I will shoot you, Michael, if you make me."

"Then do it!" Michael's eyes burned, his mind racing through scenarios of what these freaks had done to his mother and brother. Grandpa was a wily son of a bitch but not even he could expect to survive, not without help.

"Not yet. You still have work to do."

Huffing, his heart still pounding, Michael stepped back. The regret was filling him now. He shouldn't have said no to the trip; he and Star should have gone with them. Lucy had just wanted a nice, normal, family vacation. A weekend trip to get away from Santa Carla and see something different after the horror they'd all witnessed.

But no, Michael had begged off, said he and Star needed time alone, that they would watch the house while the rest went down to Monterey. He had been stubborn about it, too demanding. Lucy had finally given in and agreed, then graciously taken Laddie with them, to give Star a break. Michael knew his mom had grown attached to the precocious child, now that both her sons were teenagers.

"Laddie."

"What about the brat?" The blonde raised a brow.

"Did you spare him?"

She shrugged. "He was a half vampire once. Makes it hard to go back, especially one that young. Big mistake, letting him drink Max's blood."

"Why wouldn't you just turn him into a ghoul?" Michael struggled with the carpet. It wasn't going to budge around the horns, and even if it did, it would be near impossible to unroll it.

"It's not how it works. He'd be useless to us, too young. Laddie was just a distraction for Star, you know, a living baby doll to care for. Made her look all the more vulnerable and harmless to you."

Michael ignored the sting of anger. How elaborate had Max's plan been? Clearly a lot more than he realized, which made him feel stupid. "Did you kill him?"

"I would expect so." The blonde seemed oh so nonchalant about the death of a child. "But then, _no one_ survived the car accident, so it wasn't like we singled him out."

Pain stabbed Michael in the heart, making it skip a beat as he fought for air. His chest was too tight, his breathing rapid as he blinked back tears. "Oh, God, you killed them... you're _fucking monsters_..."

"Yeah, we are." The blonde agreed. "Too bad it took you too long to realize it."

***

Maria found herself in Lucy's bedroom, pawing through the wooden jewelry box. The sterling silver pieces, especially those inlaid with turquoise, would fetch some money. There were some costume pieces, and quite a few hats, but those she bundled into trash bags with the clothes. They would be doled out back at Max's house before the leftovers were sent to the donation bin.

She grabbed sunglasses from the top of the dresser, a pair she had fancied after seeing Lucy wear them to work a few times. Maria felt bad about Lucy dying but it was just the way things went. She was a casualty of being related to Sam and Michael, even though she hadn't directly participated in the deaths of Max and the Lost Boys. Accessory to murder, that might be the right term.

Sighing, Maria picked up the metal canister and splashed a healthy dose of gasoline on the bed, soaking the sheets and comforter. A couple more splashes on the dresser and the floor before she stepped back out of the bedroom.

"I can't believe it how fast they cleaned up, it's like it never happened here."

Maria nodded, putting a hand on her companion's shoulder. "We know it did. We won't forget."

Her companion was silent, looking down over the open living space with the furniture arranged around the large taxidermy pieces. It was certainly an eclectic style of decorating. The stone fireplace that dominated the room was still in disrepair, its hearth cracked, some of the smaller stones missing.

"Did you douse Sam and Michael's rooms?"

"Yeah, wasn't much to choose from that would fence easily. They don't have a lot of value."

"Didn't think there would be." Maria shrugged. "I'll go work on the kitchen, you do Grandpa's bedroom."


	3. "and we will all move on"

Michael rubbed his eyes with the back of his forearm. Between the sweat that dripped from his brow and the tears that gathered but wouldn't fall, he could barely see what he was doing. Fumbling, he wrapped his t-shirt around one of the horns. Sweat slid down his bare spine, chilling his skin in the cool night air though he was hot from exertion.

Settling his grip, both hands around the shirt-covered horn, Michael pulled. It was reluctant to give away, impeded by the carpet and the deceased vampire's chest. Groaning with effort, he pulled as hard as possible. The horn would come out; it wasn't firmly attached to the animal's skullcap, which was the part fastened to the wooden mount.

A sick squelching sound filled the silence. The black horn pulled free, tearing the makeshift holes in the rolled carpet, enlarging them. Michael gagged on the stench of rotting meat that filled the air.

"Smells about as pleasant as he ever did, especially after a kill." The blonde remarked, making a face.

"You had a thing for David, didn't you." Michael couldn't resist taunting her.

"You really sure you want to tease me about that, Michael?" The blond sighed. "You can throw that horn in the hole. No sense in leaving sharp objects lying about unattended."

Looking at the pointed horn in his hand, Michael paused. It was still sharp though not as nearly strong now that it didn't have the plaster form to stabilize it and the wooden plaque was still underneath David's body. He tossed it in the hole, moving on to the second horn.

It came out easier then the first. The blonde moved towards him, causing Michael to back up a bit, aiming the pointed end at her. "Oh, don't get trigger happy."

"Says the girl holding the gun."

The blonde snorted, putting her boot under the middle of the rolled carpet. With a hard nudge she pushed the bundle away, unrolling it to reveal the body concealed within. David was face down, the wooden plaque still embedded in his back. The blonde stepped closer to the body, distracted.

Michael threw the second horn behind him, hoping it would land close to Star, where he might reach it if needed.

"Take that out." She directed Michael. "Then roll him over."

***

Maria lugged the canvas duffel bag off the porch and down to the car, the dirt track that was the driveway kicking up small clouds of dust under her boots. The Emersons, and Grandpa, were dirt poor. No television to fence, Michael's weight set was too heavy and too cumbersome to pack into the sedan, and no one in their right mind would buy half-finished taxidermy projects.

The tools Grandpa used, those on the other hand, would fetch a of couple bucks.

Running a hand through her black hair to push it out of her eyes, Maria began loading the sedan's trunk. It was roomy enough to hold some of the trash bags she and her companion had packed. But she left space just the same, unsure exactly of what would be joining them.

Shutting the trunk, Maria raised a hand to shield her eyes against the bright lights rolling towards her. Tensing, she reached into her coat pocket, feeling the wooden handle of the small caliber pistol she carried. Blinking, she realized it was a vehicle painted in a two-tone baby blue and white paint scheme. It rolled to a gentle stop beside the sedan.

"I think this could bring us a pretty penny or two." Her companion grinned at her through the rolled down window. "'57 Ford Fairlane and it's a convertible, to boot."

"Looks like a cream puff," Maria remarked.

"It's pretty cherry. Found it parked in a shed. Low on gas, though."

"It should take unleaded, so use what's left in those." Maria nodded to the two red metal canisters on the porch. "We're done dousing the place."

Now it was just a matter of sitting around and waiting.


	4. "you never mattered anyhow"

It took work to get the wooden plaque and its plaster forms out, embedded as it was in David's back. If he'd had a crowbar, something to use as a lever instead of just his bare hands, Michael knew it would have gone faster.

"You are so slow, human." The blonde griped.

"All you do is hold a gun and complain. I'm sure you'd be much faster." Michael retorted, as the wooden plaque finally came free. He tossed it in the open hole, hard enough to flatten a few of the vacuum bags. The nauseating stench of decay and death filled the night air as David's death wounds were exposed.

Michael gagged, coughing hard, his stomach turning over at the putrid odor. Vampires smelled bad but a vampire corpse was unimaginably foul. Backing away, Michael coughed again and spat into the hole, trying to get the smell and taste out of his mouth.

"When you're done, roll him over." The blonde directed, gesturing with the gun.

Spitting a second time, Michael rubbed his mouth with the back of his arm, regretting it. His skin was dirty and sweaty and did nothing to improve the taste he was gagging against. Squaring his shoulders, he returned to the body on the carpet and put his tennis shoe against the side of David's ribs. With a strong push, David was now lying face up, his arms and legs akimbo, the black coat spread out like broken wings.

"There, happy?" Michael grumbled.

The blonde shrugged. "Get down on your knees."

"What?" Michael couldn't feign surprise. "Why, your aim isn't good enough to shoot me where I stand?"

Frowning, the petite blonde stepped over David's body to come closer to Michael, the gun still aimed at him. "I told you, Michael, I'm not going to shoot you unless you force me to. Now get on your damn knees."

With a huff, Michael sank to the carpet. For good measure he held his hands up in the air, as though he were being arrested. "Fine, whatever."

There was a metallic click sound, something hard encircling his left wrist. By the time Michael realized what was happening, it was too late for him to do anything about it. The blonde had pocketed the gun and was handcuffing his wrists behind his back.

He jerked against the cuffs but only succeeded in angering her. The blonde smacked the back of his head with her open palm, nearly sending him face down onto the carpeting. "Michael, just give up."

"Never!" He felt her hand on the back of his calf and tried to kick. Michael missed and landed on his side, the impact knocking the breath out of his lungs.

"It's fine, pretend you don't know when you're beaten. No skin off my nose." The blonde sighed as she produced a roll of duct tape and proceeded to wrap it tightly around Michael's ankles. Satisfied, she tore the roll free and smoothed down the end.

Lying still, Michael worked to get his breathing back to normal. The blonde left him there, walking the few feet over to where Star lay.

"Get up." She commanded, nudging Star's backside with the toe of her boot. Star didn't move. "I know you're awake. Your heart's been pounding since Michael rolled David's body..." The blonde leaned over Star, brushing the dark curls back from her face.

With a feral shriek, Star leaned up and sank her blunt teeth into the side of the blonde's hand. She hung on while the blonde tried to shake her loose, snarling at the pain and the audacity of the former half-vampire.

"Star!" Michael yelled, wiggling, trying to get to his knees, unsure of how to help. Star clamped her jaws harder, making the blonde scream.

There was a sharp smack as the blonde's left fist connected with Star's eye socket, sending the brunette's head snapping back. Her teeth came free as she fell into the dirt, groaning and crying.

"Damn it!" The blonde snarled, cradling her damaged hand. Michael could smell the blood as it dripped into the dirt. He could remember the feeling that scent would have inspired when he was a half-vampire, the hunger it would have triggered. Now, nothing happened.

The blonde kicked Star in the thigh, making the brunette cry out in pain. Holding her wounded hand tucked into her chest, she grabbed Star by the hair and half dragged her towards Michael. "Couldn't go quietly, could you."

Star cried out louder, unable to fight the hand wrapped in her hair, her hands still bound behind her back. She pushed against the ground, her feet scrabbling in the dirt, as she was moved over to where Michael lay on the carpet. She screamed as the blonde yanked hard, ripping strands of hair from Star's scalp, before she finally let go.

"Son of a bitch," the blonde was spitting mad, trying to look at the bite marks. Michael squirmed across the carpet, trying to get closer to Star. If he could somehow get to the belt around Star's wrists, he could free her...

"I don't think so." The blonde's boot connected with his sternum, shoving him away from the whimpering brunette. Michael rolled backwards, away from Star, almost into the hole.

"Michael!" Star cried, tears pouring down her cheeks.

"It's okay, Star." He called back, realizing what cold comfort his reassurance offered.

"So touching but I'm over it now." The blonde walked away from them, shrugging off her leather jacket, easing the sleeve down over her injured hand. She dropped it behind her as she advanced towards David's corpse.

"Ladies and gentlemen, it's time for the fun and games to begin."

***

Maria looked up sharply at the scream, could hear a name being cried out, somewhere northeast of the house, in one of the empty pastures. Again she felt for the pistol in her jacket pocket.

"Do you think we should go help?"

"Nah. If we really thought Michael and Star would put up too much of a fight, we wouldn't have sent her alone to handle them." Her companion leaned back on his hands, sitting on the hood of the Ford Fairlane. "Besides, she'd just get pissed if we crashed the party."

"I'm not saying she's botched it, I'm just asking if we should help." Maria huffed softly. "Don't you want to see it?"

"It's not my revenge to be had."

"I know." Maria sighed. "You weren't in the house when it happened."

Marko nodded, staring into the distance. Maria wondered how much he could see from where they were. "Cutting Edgar away piece by piece has been very cathartic and helpful to my recovery process. Too bad Alan's heart gave out before I got very far with him."

More shouts came from the pasture. Another scream. Maria looked at the watch on her wrist. She was glad the house was so far from the main road. No one would hear the noise and call in a suspicious activity report. Even if they did, well, they had someone bribed in dispatch to conceal the call.

Marko scratched the side of his nose and yawned. He could smell blood in the air. Someone was wounded. His eyes turned golden but he held back the full transformation. No sense in getting excited.

"I found some beers and double stuffed Oreos in the fridge. Have one, Maria. We'll be waiting a while."


	5. "you're not so pretty now"

Michael craned his neck, ignoring the growing pain that tried to tell him the angle was a bad one. It was hard to see what the blonde was doing; the plastic lantern's batteries had died and the moonlight wasn't strong enough to illuminate the scene.

Feet away, Star was still crying, softer now but Michael could hear her. She had crumpled inward; her shoulders rolled forward, head bowed over her lap. He thought about trying to scoot across the carpet to her side but he found himself more interested in what the blonde was doing.

She was kneeling in the dirt at David's right shoulder, still cradling her wounded hand against her chest. The wind blew in off the ocean, the salt air mixing with the smell of fresh blood and dead body. Michael wrinkled his nose against it.

The blonde shivered, the protection of her leather jacket gone. The smoothness of David's jaw startled her. She was used to the scruffy beard he favored, though he had been clean-shaven when they'd first met. In death he looked younger than she remembered him being.

Closing her eyes, she focused her thoughts. It had been easier raising Marko from death. He hadn't been decaying for weeks, buried in the dirt, under the remains of his friends. If the Lost Boys had taken a few minutes to really look at Marko's wound they would have clearly seen Edgar hadn't staked him through the heart. Clipped it for certain but not a fatal wound.

Killing a vampire was a lot harder than it looked. Paul and Dwayne had to be melted and blown apart, respectively, to make sure they couldn't be resurrected. They knew Max had been impaled by a massive fence post, literally the largest stake at hand, and from what Edgar had confessed to Marko, it had punched through his entire chest cavity. There was no coming back from that, not when you self-immolated.

Combustion was kind of an issue for older vampires. A big enough wound that caused crippling damage and they went _poof_.

Opening her eyes, the blonde returned to the task at hand. "You better be listening, you bastard. The train's leaving the station, so here's your return ticket." Slowly, with a wince, she extended her right arm until her bleeding hand was hovering over David's open mouth.

Growling against the pain, she squeezed her wounded fist. Fat drops of blood fell into the corpse's mouth, bloodied the pale lips. She pressed the open wound directly against David's mouth, waiting, watching.

"You can't bring him back." Star sniffled hard, blinking as she watched through the curls that fell in front of her eyes. "He's _dead_."

"You know nothing, Star."

"The horns went through his chest, pierced his heart. I was there, I saw it!" Michael argued, fighting to get himself to his knees, hindered by the handcuffs and duct tape. "David is totally dead and this whole exercise is futile!"

The blonde ignored them, silently squeezing her fist harder, keeping the wound open and bleeding into David's mouth.

" _You killed my family!_ You might as well kill me, kill _us_ , have your revenge, because it's not gonna bring David-" Michael and Star both gasped aloud as David's right hand suddenly raised up, clamping around the blonde's wrist. They could hear the noisy sound of sucking, weak at first, growing in strength as the seconds ticked by.

"Oh my God..." Star whispered in disbelief.

"It's not possible..." Michael groaned.

The blonde smiled as David slowly regained strength, his left hand now gripping her forearm, as he drank his way back into being. Michael realized she was sacrificing herself, a lamb to the slaughter, to raise a monster from the depths of hell.

His basic consciousness returned to him, David's vision finally returned. Looking around as he fed on the nourishing blood, he realized he was outside under a field of stars. He couldn't remember all the details, just darkness; darkness that hadn't had a single star in it.

David tried to name her, the face that hovered above his own. He knew that face, remembered it from before, though it usually wasn't smiling at him. Exasperation, that was the expression he was used to seeing on that pale face.

He tried again, his lips moving against the bleeding wound that was pressed to his mouth, but only succeeded in mumbling unintelligibly. The blonde leaned closer in effort to hear him, tilting her head as she focused.

"What, David?"

The vampire pushed the bleeding hand from his mouth, still clutching possessively to the arm with both hands, afraid it would be taken away when he was still so far from recovery. His eyes met hers, his brain finally making the connection to his voice.

"...Beth."

Star cried out softly as the blonde was named, recognized. Michael stared hard at the ghoul and the formerly deceased vampire. "How? _How is this possible?!_ " He shouted angrily as Star quietly sobbed.

"Max's blood is in my veins. He was old, Michael, older than any of us could fathom. You felt its power once, because it ran inside your veins, too. You never had David's blood, you drank from a bottle full of _Max's_."

The snarling sound was loud, catching the humans and the ghoul off guard, as it issued forth from David. He grabbed Beth, sitting up as he pulled her bodily to him, twisting her until her neck was bared. She struggled initially but went limp as David cradled her in his arms.

"Not sorry," he spoke before his fangs descended, plunging into the pale skin that covered the carotid artery. Beth jerked hard in David's arms then went still as the vampire drank greedily. Star wailed, trying to scoot away from the violent scene, hindered by her tied hands. Michael closed his eyes, able to block out everything but the sounds.

***

Marko perched on the edge of the Fairlane's hood, cramming another _Double Stuf_ Oreo in his mouth. The air was saturated by the scent of blood now, making him salivate. Ever since he'd come back, his hunger had taken on a more urgent quality. Like he couldn't get enough blood.

His senses were hyperphysical, just like any vampire, but being brought back from death had pushed them further. Marko knew he was on edge a lot of the time, like a human in a hypoglycemic state, in desperate need of blood instead of sugar. No one was sure if that was just his body's way of still healing or if it was a lingering after-effect of being dead.

Max wasn't around to ask and though some of the ghouls had been around a long time, resurrecting a vampire was not an activity that happened every night. Their collective knowledge had some serious gaps, man.

"...maybe we should find some tarps or something?"

"What?" Marko blinked, shaken from his thoughts.

"I was saying, since we don't know what we're going to be picking up, maybe we should find some tarps? Something to cover the back seats with?" Maria eyed the young vampire carefully. "You sure you're okay to be here?"

"Maria, I'm fine. I'm sitting right here with you. I haven't run over there to join in." Marko groused. He turned, twisting his upper body to look at the black-haired woman. "There were some tarps in the shed I found this in. I'll go get them."


	6. "my life it ends in you, my life begins in you"

David's arms were vice-tight around her torso as he drank Beth's blood. He'd chewed the hell out of her neck but this wasn't some nightly feed. It was his unlife for hers. She would have understood. Beth was like that.

_Had_ been like that.

Her heartbeat was faint, the muscle struggling to pump what little blood remained in her circulatory system. Her body was dying in his arms. Slowly David pulled back, blood dripping from the corners of his mouth, dribbling onto the blonde's ashen face.

Michael and Star watched as David reverently set Beth's body to the side, patted her cheek, leaving behind a set of bloody prints. Then he was looking at them, sitting up on the carpet, back from the dead. Star groaned and bent farther forward, her hair covering her face. Michael laid still, his face impassive.

"Guess I should have killed you when I had the chance, Michael." David licked his lips, not putting a dent in the gore that stained the lower half of his face. "You too, Star."

"If I had _died_ , David, Max would have been angry. Mom would have refused to join him anyway, especially if I was dead."

David's lip curled and he shrugged. "Max was a little eccentric in his old age, got some wild hair up his butt that a mother would temper us, help him regain his authority. Well, your mother wasn't a Wendy-type. She didn't have much control over you and Sam."

"Don't you talk about my mother!" Michael growled.

"Dead, is she?" David smirked. "Well, I mustn't speak ill of the dead, then."

"Please, David, please." Star whimpered.

"Begging for mercy already, Star? Some things never change." David tsked. It took him a moment but he finally got to his feet. The wounds in his chest still ran clear through his body, slow to fill in as his supernatural regeneration was still coming online. He leaned over Michael, blood dripping from his chin. "I should have killed you that first night, let you drive over the cliff, instead of taking you inside the Cave."

Michael wanted to spit in that pale face but his mouth was dry from fear.

"Cat got your tongue, Michael?" David grinned, just before his boot smashed Michael in the ribs. The dark-haired boy cried out, unable to wrap his arms around his body for protection. David slammed the heel of his boot into Michael, the silver spur digging into his flesh.

"No!" Star screamed. "David, no! _Please!_ "

"You think you can persuade me to stop, Star?" David growled, his eyes glowing red-tinted gold in the darkness. "I told you to kill him and you didn't!"

Star screamed again as David kicked Michael in the face. " _I love him!_ "

"Love isn't enough, Star." David growled as he continued to kick and stomp on Michael. The dark haired teenager had no way to defend himself against the beating. He curled up, bringing his knees up best he could, but couldn't deflect the stomping boot that went after his face.

" _Stop!_ " Star screamed, her voice shrill in the night.

***

Marko wiped his mouth with his sleeve as he walked back from the shed. It was embarrassing salivating the way he was, _drooling_ at the smell. Whatever was happening, there was a hell of a lot of blood being spilt.

"Here," he called as he approached Maria, handing her the blue and dark green tarps he'd pulled from the shed. Maria nodded her thanks, looking between the sedan and the Ford.

"I don't know what she's bringing back. I'm not sure which car to use."

Marko frowned softly. "Well, we know from Edgar it's probably going to be a lot of trash bags. Paulie's just bones but Dwayne's in pieces." His frown deepened. When Edgar had explained, under much duress, that Dwayne had exploded after Sam had shot him with an arrow, it was met with much skepticism. It wasn't till Marko had removed a toenail or two that the stereo's involvement had been revealed.

"Yeah, but..." Maria started. Marko waved her off.

"We don't know about that yet. I can smell a lot of blood but until I see David with my own eyes, I'm not getting my hopes up. He was in the ground quite a while."

Maria chewed her lip. Beth had been successful in resurrecting Marko. If she wasn't successful in bringing David back, they were down to one vampire. She looked at her wristwatch, her expression doubtful.

"Why don't you take the Ford and head back to Max's?" Marko suggested. "The others will be waiting for news. You can get a head start on divvying up the goods."

"Are you sure, Marko? I'm not sure you should wait out here alone."

"I can set a house on fire, Maria. And I can handle what ever comes out of that pasture." Marko's set jaw and darkened eyes brooked no argument.

"Oh, okay then." Maria sighed. "Help me move everything into the Ford. I'll leave you the tarps for the sedan. It has a bigger trunk, in case you need to cram a body or two in there."


	7. "the light that's dying in your eye"

Michael was surprised he could still breathe, his nose smashed in worse than the two times Beth had damaged it. He could feel rocks on his tongue; no, those were his front teeth. He spit them out in the dirt as David paused for a second.

"Not so pretty now, are you, Michael?" He laughed, sounding a little more than psychotic. His boot was caked with gore, the silver of the spurs dull under the mixture of blood and dirt that coated them. "Now I'll start working on more tender pieces..."

David swung his leg back, poised to slam the point of his boot into Michael's crotch, when he heard the sounds of scrambling in the dirt. Distracted, he whirled around and found a gun aimed at his face.

" _STOP!_ " Star demanded, holding the gun in both hands, both arms trembling as the blood flow began to return.

The vampire stared at the brunette, going still. Star was wavering, her whole body in shock.

"Star..." David cajoled, his voice soft and pleasant. "Put the gun down, Star."

"No!" Star cried in defiance, digging her bare feet into the rocky dirt of the pasture. "You stop hurting Michael!"

David frowned, the expression exaggerated by his vampiric features. "He killed our family, Star. He and his brother, and those worthless twerps, they all killed Marko, Paul, and Dwayne!"

"And the ghouls killed Michael's family, _my_ family, _David_!" Star's voice trembled. She nearly missed David's hand coming up to grab for the gun. Jerking in reaction, she shoved the muzzle closer to his face. "No! Stay back!"

" _Traitor_." David spat the word out. "I should have just killed you and thrown Laddie off the cliff."

"Don't speak Laddie's name!" Star screeched.

"At least _he_ had some cajones at the end! I felt him transform, you know. He tried to protect _his_ family! He cared about us! Not like you, Star. You who sold us out to the hottest boy who'd look at you, might show interest in you, _who might believe your lies._ " David sneered, taking a step towards her.

"No! Stay away!"

"You fucked Michael _real good_ , didn't you, Star?" David laughed softly, the sound making Star's skin crawl.

"Stop! Just stop!" She screamed. Her thoughts were racing. She was unsure of what to do. Putting a bullet in David, several bullets, might not be enough to stop him. Star hadn't known you could bring back a vampire from the dead. She had tried to stay out of the fight at the end, defending only Laddie from the Frogs when they had come after him...

"Star," David spoke her name in a way that made her feel as though he was caressing her skin. "Star, you can't shoot me with a squirt gun."

"What?" The brunette blinked, her mind swirling. "It's a gun, David. Full of bullets!"

"No it's not." David shook his head slowly. "It's a plastic squirt gun. See, it's green, full of water."

Star stared in shock as her eyes focused on the neon green plastic squirt gun held in her hands. She could have sworn that when she'd pulled it from Beth's leather jacket it had been metal, gray metal, with a rubber grip on the handle. "No... _No_... it's real... a real gun..."

" _Star_ ," David's voice was insidious, snaking into her mind. Mind games worked well on humans. She wouldn't be able to see through the illusion now that she wasn't a half-vampire. Not like she had when Michael had first come to the cave, the games David had played with the Chinese food.

The curly-haired brunette wavered on her feet. Was this vampire magic? Was David tricking her? Was he strong enough already to be doing that? "No... no..." she repeated, unsure.

"Give me the squirt gun, Star."

"No! Star! Don't!" Michael cried out through ruined lips.

"Oh, oh...okay." Star shakily agreed, nodding as she handed the plastic toy to David.

"Good girl, Star." David took the weapon, grinning benevolently at the dark-haired girl. "Oh, and watch out."

"What?" Star looked at David, confused, as the pocketknife punched into her right eye.

" _Star!_ " Michael screamed, gagging on his swollen tongue and the blood clotting his throat, too late to warn his girlfriend.

The pale hand wrapped around the pocketknife's handle withdrew the blade, fluid pouring out from the damaged orb. David watched Star sink to her knees, hands pressed over her destroyed eye, screaming in shock and pain.

"Now how is she supposed to watch me kill Michael?" David complained.

"That? _That's_ the first thing you say to me?" Beth snorted angrily, wiping the blade on the thigh of her jeans. "She still has another eye!"

"Took you long enough to get up." David muttered, looking over the gun in his hands. It really was a gun, not a plastic toy. His mental powers were very much returned to him.

"Hey, you're the one who chewed my throat to the consistency of ground beef," Beth growled, her fingers feeling over the still-healing flesh. "Not cool, man."

"Give me that." David commanded, holding his hand out for Star's pocketknife. Beth handed it over, raising a brow.

"I'm not sure how she even hid that. She must have been sawing through the leather all this time."

"Sneaky till the very end, aren't you, Star." David examined the blade. It was dull from being used against the thick leather of Michael's belt. Star just continued to cry, clutching her face.

"Which first?" Beth asked David. "I'm hungry."

"Yeah, being turned will do that to you. But you're not feeding off these two. No traitors' blood for you." David handed the blonde the gun, which she tucked in the back of her jeans. "Hold her head up, I want Star to see this."

***

Marko waved as Maria drove off, down the dirt road, back towards town. The fluorescent fixture that Grandpa had installed on an old telephone pole illuminated the chain saw art pieces with stark light.

He hadn't told Maria he'd felt the spark. Two sparks, actually. His abilities didn't extend to knowing _who_ the vampires were; he assumed one was David but the second spark was recent. Had Beth somehow resurrected Dwayne or Paul?

A noise of frustration passed through his lips. He could easily go over there and help, if help was what she needed. Beth would bristle but probably accept Marko's aid. They'd always gotten on, before Max had sent her away.

There was suddenly a lot of screaming, "Oh, screw this." Marko left the sedan and headed around to the back of the house.


	8. "we hear you cry, we hear you wail"

"I wish we had more time together. There's so much I want to do to you." David sighed, feigning wistfulness. "Like pull every tooth individually from your mouth with my bare fingers. Flay pieces of skin from your body. Pull out your finger and toenails. Humiliate you in ways you can't even begin to imagine."

Michael spat a blood clot out onto David's chest. David brushed it away, smiling.

"Jesus, David, will you stop with the deranged Bond villain monologue?" Beth had her right hand twisted in Star's curls at the top of her head, holding her head back while her other hand held both of Star's wrists behind her. "It always blows up in their faces and Bond gets away."

David growled at the blonde. "As I was saying, I'm burning darkness, so I just don't have the time. Plus, I can't let either of you live after what you've done."

The vampire moved behind the beaten dark-haired human, pulling him up to his knees. Michael groaned from pain, his head foggy, and his breathing ragged. "Then just kill me already."

"Can't, not until your girlfriend is watching."

Star shrieked as Beth tightened her grip. The lid of her ruined eye hung limp over the empty socket, her good eye squeezed shut tight against the scene playing out in front of her.

David frowned, exchanging a glance with the blonde vampire. Beth shrugged.

"Star," David's voice took on that dreamy quality again, trying to snare her broke mind. "Star, look over here."

"No!"

David cuffed Michael upside the head. He sagged forward, moaning.

"Star," David began again, gently wheedling. "You know you want to look. It's Michael, the only boy who's ever loved you."

"Michael..." Star whispered, her good eye still closed.

"Don't listen to David, Star!" Michael pleaded. David punched him in the mouth. A few more teeth fell out.

"Star," David forced his voice into neutral tones, his eyes alight with anger. "Remember how happy we were before Michael came along? How you would run through the Boardwalk at night, with Laddie? Going to see the bands that would come and put on concerts at the bandstand? How we would ride my bike along the waterline, the spray misting your face, as we rode under the moonlight?"

"...yes," Star's voice wavered as she fell under David's mental spell. "Happy."

Michael whimpered, the noise stretching out into a strangled sound as David seized his brown hair and pulled him to his feet. "Look at me, Star. Look over here."

Star's undamaged eye opened slowly, her gaze glassy and unfocused, as she looked in David's direction. He had an arm around Michael's chest, holding him up. Releasing Michael's hair, David pulled Star's pocketknife from his coat, opening the blade with his thumb.

"Keep watching, Star."

"Yes."

David grinned at Beth as he lowered his hand, the pocketknife's point coming to rest against Michael's bare belly. It punctured the skin easily but got stuck in the layer of fat underneath. David frowned; Michael groaned. The blade was way too short.

"Well, damn it." David growled. His eyes flared golden red as he jerked his arm, dragging the dull blade through Michael's body, even though it could barely cut through the flesh and fat. Only the fact that David had a vampire's strength and speed made it possible for the knife to cut.

Michael screamed, a death wail, as David hacked his way through the belly. He could feel his insides bulging towards the opening, trying to slip free. "No! Stop!"

"Never, Michael. You killed my friends. You killed _me_. You killed Max, although you did me a favor with that." David's voice was low in Michael's ear. "But not enough of a favor to spare your life."

"Star..." Michael cried softly. David sneered coldly and lowered his face, the double fangs in his mouth glistening wetly.

"Goodbye, Michael." David sunk his fangs into the meat of Michael's throat and jerked his head back, opening a massive gash in the brunette body's neck. Blood poured out, spilling faster from the new wound than the one that had opened his belly. Star screamed.

" _Michael!_ _No!_ "

The blond Lost Boy didn't gorge himself on his enemy's blood. He certainly could have; his body was still slow to heal and another feed would aid his recovery. Instead, he rubbed his face against the wound he had torn open in Michael's neck, painting his visage dark red, marking himself the victor.

David's hand slipped up into the wound he'd carved into Michael's belly, grabbed onto what he could feel, and yanked hard. There was a slopping sound as entrails hit the dirt at Michael's feet. Star wailed, a keening sound that hurt the ears of both vampires.

She was silenced by a gunshot.

"What'd you do that for?!" David yelled as Star's body pitched forward, landing face down in the dirt. The bullet left a smoking crater in the back of her skull.

"Because she betrayed you, got you killed, and I wasn't here to stop her!" Beth yelled back, the structure of her face shifting into its vampiric form for the first time. "I know you're all about showmanship and mind games, David, but I'm tired of them. They just needed to die so all this would be over!"

David frowned. "Max told me you chose to go away."

"Max said a lot of things, David. You learned there's many sides to a lie because of him."

He couldn't argue with her on that point. "Still, you would never have agreed to be bait to snare Michael." David released his grip, letting Michael's body fall to the ground. Bloody mud splashed his boots.

"No." Beth shook her head. "Max told you I went away, then he let you turn Star into a half-vampire, cutting you off at the knees, removing your link to anything being done during the daylight."

"Son of a bitch," David swore under his breath. "He played me."

"Of course he did. It was Max." Beth shrugged, her features slowly returning to human. "David?"

"What?"

"Why'd you turn me?" He could see the fear of rejection in her eyes from where he stood.

"Because I promised you, when Max was dead, that I would make you one of us."

Beth looked indignant though the fear remained. "You first said you'd turn me years ago! Long before all this happened! You expect me to believe _that_ was the first thing on your mind when you were draining me?"

"No!" David looked down at Star's crumbled form. Promising to turn people into vampires had been one of his go-to offers. There were a surprising number of people who thought being a vampire would be cool. Beth had always seen through his promises, always called his bluff.

" _David!_ Answer me!"

"I was the only vampire left." David shrugged. "I didn't want to be alone."


	9. "you're gonna bleed but it's the price you pay"

Marko gunned the sedan, his boot pressing the gas pedal to the floorboard, as he careened through the pastures. The car was moving at such a clip it plowed through several rotting fence rails, sending splintering wood flying.

He had the windows rolled down, the volume turned to the highest setting, the speakers blaring Guns N' Roses' _Welcome to the Jungle_. It was his new favorite song; Marko knew Paul would have loved it.

" _You're in the jungle baby, you're gonna die!_ " Marko caterwauled along with Axl Rose.

David and Beth looked up sharply, at the light brown sedan that was speeding through the fields, aimed right at them. Beth brought up the gun, aiming it at the windshield. David roared, his talons out, ready to attack.

The driver laid on the horn, the blaring sound echoing about the empty space of the pasture, startling both vampires. Realization dawned on Beth and she lowered the gun. "Oh, thank God."

"What?" David glanced at her, confused, as the car slammed to a stop about fifteen feet away. Beth just smiled and put the gun back in her waistband.

"Dude!" Marko didn't bother opening the door, just climbed out through the open window. "You're back, bud!"

"Mar... _Marko_?!"

Marko grinned, hooking his thumbs in the grimy straps of his white tank top, tugging on them as he came round to stand in front of the bright beams of the headlights. "Yup, the one and only!"

David looked stunned, turning his face towards Beth. "You...you didn't tell me!"

"I didn't exactly have a chance, David." The blonde snorted.

"Marko!" David stumbled, his boots tangling with Michael's arms before he kicked them away, as he walked over to the other Lost Boy. Marko greeted him, arms around his leader, clapping him on the back.

"Official survivors of the 'chest wound of the month' club!" He laughed, poking David in the still healing holes. David's mouth opened and closed, no words coming out. "Wow, Beth, he's at a loss for words once in his unlife!"

"Probably used them all up in that monologue he gave before gutting Michael." The blonde rolled her eyes.

"You... you were dead!" David stammered.

"Yeah, the little spazoid only clipped my heart." Marko shrugged. "And they called themselves 'vampire hunters'."

David hugged his friend again, still shocked. "Got their just desserts, huh?"

"Alan didn't last long. But Edgar is still alive." Marko grinned wickedly. "You can help me 'play' with him."

An explosion came from behind. The force of it caused the ground to shudder, drawing the vampires' attention.

"Shit. That wasn't supposed to happen just yet." Marko complained, as the three of them stared at the fire roaring through the former Emerson home. Flames shot out the upper windows and the holes blown in the roof.

"Maria gone?" Beth asked.

"Yeah, sent her back to Max's a while ago. We better get this cleaned up. Someone's gonna notice that inferno and call the fuzz." Marko moved past David, looking over Michael's crumpled form. "Made a mess, didn't you."

"Those six garbage bags, that's Paul and Dwayne." Beth explained to Marko. "Better put them in the trunk. We'll decide what to do about them back at Max's."

Marko sighed. "Can you resurrect them, Beth?"

"It'll be harder, now that fearless leader here has turned me," Beth gave David a look. David glared back. "I'll have to see what condition they're in. Dwayne might be missing some pieces and there isn't any flesh left on Paul, if what Edgar confessed is true."

Marko didn't reply, just picked up two of the bags and walked them to the back of the car, unlocking the trunk. Maria was right to leave him the tarps. One of the bags of Dwayne was leaking.

Beth looked up at the sound as Michael's body hit the hard packed dirt at the bottom of the hole. A single vacuum bag floated up, jettisoned by the force. David stared down at the corpse of his enemy. "Revenge was supposed to be much more fun."

"Take what you can get, David." Beth replied as she crouched down, her fingers pressing against the artery in Star's neck. Marko moved between them, gathering several more of the trash bags.

"What is with all those paper bags in the bottom of the hole?" David looked over his shoulder at Beth.

"Max." She replied briskly.

"Oh."

"David, Star isn't completely dead. She's still breathing."

David shrugged. "You blew her brains out. She will be soon enough."

"You're going to waste all that blood?" Beth's left eyebrow arched in question. "In your condition?"

"Oh, shut up, Beth." David growled, crossing the space before dropping one knee into the dirt as he pulled Star's upper half towards him. His fangs pierced the flesh at the juncture of her neck and shoulder, spilling blood as he drank. It was a short affair; David leaned back, the dried bloodstains around his mouth from feeding on Beth and the damage he'd done to Michael's throat slicked over with the dying blood of Star.

He pushed the drained corpse over the rim of the hole, upper body first. There was a sick-sounding thud as Star's body landed atop Michael's, dead meat hitting dead meat. The vacuum bags under the bodies made a rustling sound as they settled.

"Too bad about the coat." Beth remarked. David looked down, running his bare hand over the holes the horns had punctured through the cloth. The skin visible beneath was angry, red, and raw, the hyperphysical healing pushed into action by the second feeding.

"Shit, I loved this coat." David groused.


	10. "you can taste the bright lights"

It took three vampires less time to back fill the hole than it had for one human to dig it up. Marko had insisted on driving the sedan over it, trying to flatten the churned up dirt. It didn't matter if the police found the hole; they were going to dump the sedan as soon as possible. Beth threw the shovel in the trunk, careful not to the hit the trash bags.

Marko insisted that the tarp cover the backseat before David and Beth got in. David groused but helped spread it across the bench seat, knowing it was just common sense. He was blood soaked and filthy from his temporary grave. Blood stained Beth from chin to chest, the front of her t-shirt a bloody mess from the wound Star had caused. She inspected her hand as Marko drove pell-mell down the dirt road, steering the car onto the tarmac.

All three vampires were silent as they rode through the near-sleepy streets of Santa Carla. Marko obeyed all the traffic laws, doing his best to not garner attention. He wasn't sure David was up to running mental interference, to shield them from cops out on night shift patrols.

"We need burgers," he announced, pulling the car into a strip mall parking lot. The burger stand in the corner space was still open at this hour. "Hang tight, I'll be back."

"Yeah," David replied, as Marko shut the door and walked away from the sedan. He glanced over at Beth, who was still examining her wounded hand.

"I thought the healing would have kicked in by now."

David shook his head. "You haven't fed. You're turned but you need a good feed to seal the deal."

"Huh. I wasn't always sure that first kill clause was legit."

"Eh," David shrugged, waving his hand in a half-half motion. "Sort of; more dramatic that way, for sure. But you just need to spill blood, willing or not."

"Ah." Beth laid her hand back in her lap. David realized she hadn't looked at him since they'd left the pasture. The silence returned.

David shook his head, tugging up his sleeve. "Here." His fangs pierced his inner wrist, puncturing the flesh, making an open wound. He held it out to Beth, fat drops of blood plopping onto the tarp, splattering.

"David, you can't, not in your condition. And you're making a mess."

"Beth, please!" He growled, his emotions audible as he pushed his bleeding wrist in front of her. "Just drink. I can spare enough to give you a bump until you jump over the last hurdle."

She glared at him, her blue eyes bright in spite of the darkness that filled the backseat. Marko had parked far enough away from the streetlight, so the car was in shadow. David glared back equally hard, moving his wrist closer to her lips.

Putting her lips to the bleeding bite marks, Beth opened her mouth and lapped her tongue over the blood. David watched, feeling the insistent sucking as she drank, her small hands holding onto his forearm.

"I'm sorry." After a long moment, David spoke, his voice startling both of them. His free hand brushed her yellow blonde hair, pushing it back over her shoulder. David could see the bloodied prints he had made on her cheek when he'd touched her, after he'd sacrificed her.

She was still drinking his blood when he leaned in, closing the space between them. Beth jerked away at his closeness, pushing his bleeding wrist away, wedging herself against the car door. "Don't. David, don't."

"I'm not." He protested, not moving away, leaning closer.

"David..." there was a warning in her tone. He paused, feeling his wrist begin to heal itself.

"I know." He nodded shortly. "I remember." Beth stayed backed into the corner as David leaned the rest of the way in and kissed her cheek, softly licking one of the bloody fingerprints he had left behind. Swallowing the taste, he moved back to his side of the bench seat.

Cautious, waiting to make sure he wouldn't do more, Beth slowly relaxed. She checked her wounded hand, seeing that it was now properly healing thanks to David's blood.

"Thank you, Beth."

"You're welcome, David." The blonde reached into an inner pocket of her leather jacket, pulling a pack of Camels out and sliding it over to the Lost Boy. He gratefully took it up, finding the plastic lighter jammed inside, lighting his first cigarette since his untimely death.

The car door swung open suddenly with a bang. A cardboard carton filled with two huge brown paper bags, each stuffed full of burgers and fries, entered first, followed by Marko. "This should tide us over." He announced, climbing back into the driver's seat, slamming the door shut.

There was silence in the backseat. Marko looked in the rear view, eyeing the other two vampires.

"What, did I interrupt something?"

"Marko," David growled in a low voice, smoke streaming from his nose like he was some punk dragon. "Just drive."

"Fine, fine, I'm just the taxi driver." He muttered as he backed the sedan out of the parking space and turned back onto the main road. They were about ten minutes from Max's house. Marko turned the radio back on, refusing to sit in silence for the last leg of their journey.


	11. "but you won't get them for free"

Max's house was palatial compared to the cave. Not just because it had all the amenities that the cave lacked -- running water, electricity, indoor plumbing, windows, doors – but more importantly, it was a home.

Granted, Max had pretty much lived there alone. In the beginning he had brought his fledglings home with him, but a few suspicious phone calls to the authorities by nosey neighbors had nipped that practice in the bud. A single gentleman with teenagers of assorted ages and genders coming and going from the house as they pleased did get some questions raised.

Marko pulled the sedan along side the detached garage, putting it in park before shutting the engine off. He was out the door, box of greasy fast food tucked under his arm, before David even got his hand on the inside handle. There were a few teenage males hanging around the front of the garage, smoking weed.

"Here, drive this over to 1912 Greenbriar. Park it in the garage, make sure everything is locked up, and _don't open the trunk_!" Marko instructed, tossing the keys to a boy with a faded green mohawk. "When you're done, call Maria. She'll send someone to pick you up."

Coming round the back of the car, David noted Beth hadn't moved. He tapped gently on the glass before opening the door.

"Come on."

"I'm dizzy. I need to sit a moment."

David nodded, but held out his hand just the same. "It happens the first couple of times. You'll get over it. C'mon, you need to eat."

Beth huffed but took David's offered hand just the same, letting him help her out of the backseat. He held onto her, by the elbow, as they crossed the bridge walkway to the main house. Lights were on in all the windows, blazing brightly; there were some teenagers in the pool, while others sat on the patio, smoking and drinking.

"Max sure had a collection," David murmured as he and Beth walked to the front door.

"No. Not all are Max's. Some are new recruits, others are just tag-a-longs. Gossip spreads fast in Santa Carla, about a house where you can smoke weed and drink beer without fearing the cops will raid the place." Beth sighed.

David eyed the teenagers splashing in the pool as Beth crossed the threshold ahead of him. "How long have I been gone?"

Beth stopped short, glancing back over her shoulder at David. "Eight weeks, give or take."

"Two months?! _Are you kidding me_?" David growled.

"No, David." Beth turned around to face him, tugging him by the sleeve into the entry hall. "Maria had to track me down, get me here. She and Sophia had to keep the video store going while trying to maintain a united front under the circumstances. The Emersons kept their mouths shut. Honestly who would believe their story if they told it? But Edgar and Alan boasted, displayed the weapons they claimed had taken down a nest of vampires in the comic shop."

David scowled. "They're more stupid then I thought."

"Well, they'd scored a victory. They weren't scared enough, didn't realize how deep Max's operation ran." Beth tucked her hands in her jacket pockets. "By the time I got to town, Marko had been in the deep freeze for a couple of weeks."

"What? They stuck him in a _freezer_?"

"The night of the attack, Maria knew something had gone wrong. Max told her he was having Lucy over for dinner but he didn't check in again before sunrise. Maria came here, first thing, couldn't find him. The fact Thorn had disappeared was a good indication of Max's demise. You know he rarely went _anywhere_ without that dog. Maria took a few fledglings to the cave and they found Marko, smuggled him out, and put him on ice like he was a mob hit. Max has one of those oversized chest freezers in one of the safe houses. It's big enough to fit a body."

David exhaled hard, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Damn."

"It was smart. Kept him from decaying. It was easier raising him then you, but _he_ didn't chew my neck like so much _salt water taffy!_ " Beth hissed, her blue eyes tinged red.

"I've been dead two months, Beth. A slow bleed from a hand wound was not going to instantly revive me."

"Hey, you two!" Marko stepped into the hallway, still holding the box. "Your food's getting cold."

"Coming, Marko." Beth called back. She started to leave David but he grabbed her forearm.

"We will finish this conversation later."

"I'm not your ghoul any longer, David."

"You still serve _me_. And, as the eldest of this... whatever the hell you want to call it, I'm in charge now."

"Says the Boy who crashed and burned his own secret coup in three easy steps." Beth snapped back, pulling free of David's grasp. "Maria and I, along with Sophia, Charlie, and Jake, kept this ship afloat for this long, without any help from you. So don't think you can waltz back in and expect us to scrape and bow just because you're the most powerful now, David!"

Beth stomped away, headed in the direction Marko had disappeared in. David stood in the hallway, glaring angrily at the space she no longer occupied.

"We'll see about that," he muttered, finally following.

***

The living room was an open plan, though the large sectional and other furniture had been pushed back to the edges of the room or stacked away. David noted sleeping bags arranged on some of the off-white carpeting, a fire burning in the modern style fireplace. Kids crowded the room, in groups of twos, threes, and fours. They looked to range in age from late teens to mid-twenties. Some pointed and whispered to their friends as David walked through on his way to the kitchen, others just stared openly.

It might have been the fact he looked like blood stained corpse and smelled like death.

David scowled and ignored them. It was better to let his reputation precede him, keep the cloak of mystery gathered, then acknowledge them.

The kitchen was also full of faces he didn't recognize. Maria was refilling a bowl of chips on the tiled island that was in the middle of the chef-style kitchen. Max had remodeled it only a few years back, tearing out the wall that separated it from the dining room and installing all sorts of stainless steel appliances, stocking the fridge with gourmet ingredients. For someone who didn't require actual food to exist, it was an expensive waste, but Max was Max.

Marko slapped a hand that attempted to reach into one of the burger bags. "Back off, man, these aren't for you!"

"David!" Maria cried, leaving the bag of chips on the island and jogging the few steps over to greet the vampire. She hugged him tightly, genuinely glad to see him. David tried not to be so stiff in her embrace, managing a polite pat on the woman's back in return. "I was afraid you were gone for good. So happy to see Beth was successful."

"It's good to see you again, Maria." David nodded as she stepped back. "I see things have gotten a little... chaotic while I was away."

Maria laughed good-naturedly. "Yeah, space is at a bit of a premium but a lot of these will clear out before dawn. We have a few more rules than Max did and aren't afraid to enforce them."

"I guess that's a step in the right direction." David conceded, as a boy walked passed carrying several boxes of pizza into the living room.

"Here, bud, eat up!" Marko walked past, shoving a double cheeseburger into David's hand.

"He might want to clean up first, Marko!" Maria called after the Lost Boy before looking back at the newly resurrected vampire. "Am I right?"

"Yes." David absently stuffed the lukewarm burger, still in its waxed paper, into his coat pocket.

"You know where it is. There should be some towels in the closet. We try to keep that one restricted to senior members." Maria explained, stepping back to take a better look at the vampire. "Pretty sure that shirt is trash. The leather pants will clean up okay. Can't really be sure about the coat."

" _The coat stays with me_." David growled.

"Sure, no problem, David." Maria reassured him. Everyone was quite familiar about David's attachment to his coat. "Just take what you can find in Max's closet."

"Oh great, so I can dress just like a late eighties nerdy dad."

Maria laughed. "I think you'll find more than designer button downs and slacks in the closet. The Emersons would have done us a favor if they'd burned Max's wardrobe with him."

"No kidding." David managed a chuckle before growing solemn again. "Thank you for coming after me, keeping this all going, Maria."

"Hey, this is my family, too, David." She touched his arm. "We all have our part in keeping it together. I-I know you and Beth parted on bad terms. Max didn't make it any better with what he did. But I didn't know who else would be strong enough, who knew how to raise you and Marko from the dead."

David shrugged. "If Beth wasn't such a damn bookworm, I'm pretty sure I'd still be wrapped in carpet seven feet underground and Marko would still be in the freezer chest."

"Oh, heard about that already, have you?" Maria smiled.

"I'm sure it was paradise compared to where I was."

"Well, Marko did suffer a bit of frostbite in places but hyperphysical healing fixed that right up."

David nodded. "Right, well, we'll talk later, Maria." This time David hugged her, a hug she returned warmly.

"Glad to have you back, you jerk." She teased, still smiling.

David nodded again, chuckling as he walked out of the kitchen. His second pass through was mostly ignored, probably because everyone was stuffing their faces with cheesy pizza.

He walked along the carpeted hallway, passing the first guest bedroom, or what Max had called the A/V room. A second guest bedroom and a small bathroom were on the left as he turned at the end of the first hall. This adjoining hall ran along the width of the house, with small windows set in the outer wall to reveal an unimpeded view of the Pacific Ocean.

Of course, it was the dead of night, so there was really nothing to see.

David came to the French doors that were the entry to Max's master suite. One of the doors was unlocked, so he slipped in, locking it behind him. It was a spacious suite, with a vaulted ceiling, light pine wood furniture, and a pastel color scheme. A California king-sized bed, set upon a built-in riser, was to his left. Across from the bed sat a massive built-in entertainment cabinet, in the center of which resided a thirty-five inch picture tube television, Max's pride and joy.

Heading directly to the walk-in closet, David found Maria hadn't been kidding. Clothes were everywhere; in piles on the floor, some on hangers, others crammed into the built-in drawers. He pawed through the clothing, eventually finding a plain black t-shirt and a pair of black jeans he thought might fit.

Making his way back, David sat on the leather ottoman of the lounge set that was part of a sitting area in the opposite corner of the room. Someone had nailed thick black plastic over the windows that looked out onto the small private patio. In fact, all the windows in the suite were covered with the same plastic, some draped with thick blackout curtains as well.

David realized someone had planned ahead. They wouldn't be going back to the cave to sleep. This suite had been prepared for vampires to hole up in during the day, for him and Marko. He realized that included Beth, too.

Undoing the spurs, David went to set them aside then realized they'd leave marks on the expensive deep pile carpeting Max had picked out for the master suite. Cursing under his breath, David stood up and put them on the leather ottoman before he took off his coat. The holes in the back had torn more since his revival and though the fabric was medium weight wool, it was difficult to tell if it could be patched.

It would never be the same; that much was certain.

Draping the coat over the recliner chair, David pulled the filthy black shirt up over his head before bundling the silver spurs in it. That went on top of the coat. He had just removed the silver-buckled belt, tossing it to join the rest in the recliner, when the bathroom door opened.

Steam poured out into the bedroom. Beth stepped out, focused on securing the oversized, high quality cotton bath towel around her. She stopped short when she realized David was in the room, staring at the half-undressed vampire.

"I didn't know you were in here." David broke the silence.

Beth pulled her wet hair into a long coil that fell over her shoulder, the corn-silk blonde color darkened from the water. "There's still hot water. Max installed a separate water heater just for the master bath."

David stood up, feeling the deep pile of the expensive carpet under his bare toes. "Good to know." Beth backed up a step. "Beth, stop it."

"Stop what?"

"You damn well know..." David barked. "Stop acting like a skittish animal around me!"

"David, I haven't seen you in a long time and tonight I brought you back from... I don't know, was it Hell? The afterlife? _Nothingness_? And you want me to just go back to the way it was before? Like you never died and I wasn't sent away?"

David was silent, remembering the nothingness, the black void that had surrounded him. Where time didn't exist, where there was nothing to be seen, nothing to be heard, the suffocating emptiness that had tried to drive him mad...

"David?" He blinked, finding Beth directly in front of him now, her expression one of genuine concern.

"No." He answered hoarsely before clearing his throat. "No, I know it can't go back to that. That time is over."

Beth nodded slowly. "Okay. Then don't tell me I'm being skittish around you. You are a vampire and have been for a while. _I've_ only been one for a few hours."

"Okay." David agreed. He moved past the petite blonde, the clean clothes gathered in the crook of his arm as he headed to the bathroom. The scent of her clean skin, the strawberry smell of her shampoo, lingered in his nose. "Make sure no one touches my stuff."

"Yes, David." He heard her reply as he shut and locked the bathroom door.


	12. "it's like I never been here before"

Beth sat on the oversized bed, atop the brushed cotton duvet, eating a double cheeseburger and fries she had brought in from the kitchen. A music video played on the thirty-five inch television, the sound turned to a low volume. The party had died down in the main part of the house, most of the kids having been turned out while the core family members drifted off to the guest bedrooms or the sleeping bags on the floor of the living room.

The bathroom door finally reopened, David flicking off the light switch as he emerged. Clad in a standard black t-shirt, the black jeans were a bit loose but would do until his leather pants had been cleaned. His hair was still damp and his jaw was darkening as the scruff returned. He felt more like himself with every passing minute.

"Thought maybe you drowned in there." Beth's voice startled him. She took a large bite out of the cheeseburger in her hand, staring at him. David ignored her, looking towards the lounge set, where he'd left his gear. It wasn't in the recliner.

"Where's my stuff? What the hell, Beth!" He roared, his hands balling into fists.

"Chill out, David." She glared at him, pointing at the hook that hung on the wall beside the bathroom door, where Max had hung his suits so they wouldn't wrinkle while he performed his nightly toilette. David turned and found his coat neatly hung on a hanger. His boots were below it, clean and polished.

"You... you cleaned it." David stammered, touching the fabric of the coat.

"Your leather pants are under it, cleaned as well. The medallion is in the left pocket. The spurs are in your boots. We burned the t-shirt."

David turned around and stared at the blonde. "How? I wasn't in the shower that long..."

"You were in there over two hours, David." Beth raised a brow. "Marko took it to the twenty-four hour dry cleaner shop Max bought a few years ago. He had to go out to feed, so it wasn't an extra trip. Pretty sure he threatened them because the coat looks brand new. Well, except for the holes. They offered to patch them but Marko refused."

The vampire brushed his fingers over the leather lapels. "No, no repairs. The holes are badges of honor now."

"Honor, my butt. You got impaled on a pair of horns and died. Nothing courageous about that!"

" _Stop!_ " David bellowed. "I know! I know I'm back due to the efforts of _all_ the family but you did the hardest part, Beth. Stop lording it over me."

The blonde was silent, chewing the cold fries. David turned his attention towards the television screen, unfamiliar with the music video currently airing. It barely held his attention, his thoughts turning over and over about the fact he'd lost two hours in the shower. He could remember standing in the hot spray of water, staring without focus, still trying to regain his mind.

"There was a cheeseburger in my coat pocket..."

A knock, a series of knocks really, interrupted David. He looked towards the door, puzzled. Beth rolled her eyes.

"Door's unlocked, Marko!"

The handle turned, one half of the French doors opening as Marko peaked his head in. "Everybody decent? Not interrupting anything, am I?"

"Marko!" David growled.

"What?" Marko teased, grinning as he entered the master suite. He carried a plate loaded with two double cheeseburgers and a large fry, which he handed to David. "Here, eat something, before you get beyond grumpy."

"I am not grumpy!"

"Says the dude _yelling_ that he's not grumpy!" Marko countered. David half snarled and took a seat in the recliner, attacking the first burger like it was his last meal. "See, you need to eat."

"Is everything closed up for the night?" Beth changed the subject.

"Yeah, Maria's got it handled. David's catwalk through the living room put the fear of God into some of the squatters. I don't think they'll be back. We're gonna have to trim the herd soon enough."

"What, call social services?" David after he swallowed a mouthful of burger. "Isn't that what Max did?"

"Nah, I'm talking about eating them, bud." Marko grinned. "You know runaways are still an excellent source of blood, perfect for the nutritional needs of us vampires. Especially since there are three of us now." He turned to Beth. "Or maybe soon to be more?"

"Marko, I can't promise you Paul and Dwayne coming back."

"You're a vampire now, stronger than a ghoul. It should be easier!"

Beth shook her head. "That's not how it works, Marko. A ghoul is a bridge, neither human nor vampire. I had Max's blood in my veins. Blood calls to blood."

David looked up sharply, dropping the fries back on the plate. Beth returned the look he gave her. Marko seemingly didn't notice the silent exchange.

"So, Paul and Dwayne had Max's blood, too."

"Yes. Which is how it worked with you...and David. But, like I said earlier, there's no flesh or blood left of Paul. Bone marrow, maybe, but he's stripped pretty solidly."

"What the hell did they use to do _that_ to him?" David asked, remembering the rust red liquid that had filled the kitchen and smelled like rotten farts.

"Holy water mixed with garlic."

"Garlic wouldn't do shit." David snorted.

"But legitimate holy water _did_." Beth countered. "Something we don't really come in contact with often, being godless heathens. It's weird though. Holy water is pretty much a Catholic thing and Paul wasn't Catholic."

"Presbyterian." David muttered around his cheeseburger. "Formerly."

Beth shrugged. "Well, we know to avoid it from now on. Still, bones aren't a lot to work with. I'm more of a resurrectionist than a proper necromancer. I rely on the blood connection, not finding your spirit."

"Do we even have souls?" Marko wondered.

"Yes," David and Beth replied at the same time.

"Spooky." Marko looked between the other two vampires. "That still leaves Dwayne."

"Who's in multiple chunks, which are rotting and full of fly larva and other carrion-eating bugs. Plus I'm pretty sure when I looked through the bags, his head wasn't in one. That's a large piece to be missing. You can't reassemble Frankenstein's monster without a head."

"They took Dwayne's head? As a trophy?" David frowned.

"No, I think it exploded." Marko growled angrily. "What I got out of Edgar was second-hand, though. I never got to _chat_ with Sam and he was the one who killed Dwayne."

"Exactly what happened to Michael's immediate family?" David raised a brow.

"Lucy abruptly quit working at the video store, shortly after the attack. So Maria _accidentally_ bumped into her at the market one day a few weeks ago, made small talk, found out she was planning to take a weekend trip to Monterey. _"_

"And when was this?"

"They left, what, Thursday?" Marko looked to Beth for confirmation.

"Friday. They were in the county morgue by Friday afternoon."

"We cut the phone lines to the house, so Michael never received the call. Plus we have friends in the police department who held off the state highway patrol from coming down to inform Michael and Star of the tragic traffic accident." Marko feigned sadness before his face burst into a wide grin. "I rigged the brakes to fail on the Land Cruiser all by myself!"

"So you took out Lucy and Sam. What about the grandfather? Laddie?" David put his empty plate on the arm of the recliner.

"Laddie perished in the crash as well. Sam's dog, I guess it escaped the crash but hasn't been seen since. The grandfather, that damned nine-lived old coot, he's under heavy sedation in a local hospital. He seems to know quite a lot about vampires and I was supposed to go down and question him, but now that's mucked up because _I can't go out in day light!_ "

David's eyes narrowed as he looked darkly at Beth.

"I went through his stuff at the house, Beth." Marko kept his tone neutral as he spoke, not wanting to provoke either of the other vampires. "I pulled some books you might want to read, found some tools among his taxidermy stuff. He might have been a hunter, once. Or maybe that's just Edgar bluffing again."

"Everybody's dead, except Edgar, the grandfather and the dog." David waited until Marko nodded confirmation. "What day is it?"

"Saturday." Beth replied.

"I've been gone two months but at least I got back in time to snuff out the final pieces." David got up from the recliner. "I'm going out to smoke."

"Bud, smoke in here. Max isn't around to ban smoking in the house anymore."

"No. I want to be alone." David took the pack Marko offered him, heading out the door.

"Don't sulk too long!" Marko called after him. "Sunrise is coming."


	13. "loved right, lived wrong, in another life"

David stalked through the house towards the front door, glad he didn't meet anybody on his way. Things were quiet in Max's house, the sounds of sleeping bodies in the living room the only noise beyond the hum of appliances from the kitchen.

He stopped at the front door, eyeing the electronic keypad that was mounted on the wall beside it. Max had been so hyped to have an alarm installed, since it was the latest gadget and only wealthy people felt the need for electronic monitoring of their homes. The lights were green. David opened the door and nothing started beeping or wailing.

Hopefully Maria wouldn't turn it on before he came back inside.

Heading around the side of the house, where the grass was bordered by green shrubbery that concealed the way the land sloped down the rocky cliff, David pulled the pack of cigarettes out of the pocket of his jeans and lit one as he walked. He was soon standing on the patio outside the master suite. There was some kind of dark film installed over the windows on the outside as well, under the screens.

Unworried about being seen, David bent his knees and leapt upwards, landing gently on the roof. Crouching, he half leaned back against the ridge line, looking out over the night view of the Pacific Ocean. Up here he could hear the water crashing into the shoreline, the lap of the waves. It was peaceful and soothed his mind.

He chain-smoked, thinking about the eight weeks he had missed due to his untimely demise. How Star had ruined everything, ignoring both Max's instructions and David's secret demands. He could see her ruined face in his mind's eye, destroyed by the gunshot.

David was mad he hadn't gotten to do more to her; she deserved it, in his mind, to suffer for her betrayal.

"Here, it's the good shit, some of the last of Paul's stash." Fingers holding a roach clip appeared in front of his nose, the joint smoldering in the darkness. David hadn't heard Marko join him on the roof. He cut a look to the other Lost Boy before taking the clip, putting it to his lips and inhaling deeply.

The sweet and skunky smoke filled his lungs, tingling in the spots where the tissue had knit back together during the healing process. David finally exhaled, blowing the stream of smoke out slowly.

"Good to have you back, man."

"Glad to be back, Marko." David nodded. "Heard you had some trouble with frostbite."

Marko snorted, flipping David his middle finger as he took back the roach clip. "Yeah, yeah, just my fingers and toes, a spot on my nose. My junk was spared."

"I'm sure the ladies will be relieved."

Taking his own toke off the joint, Marko nodded. "As relieved as Beth is to see you back in black."

David sighed, shaking his head. "You damn well know nothing like that ever happened between Beth and I. It was always platonic, professional. She knew her place and I never scratch that itch with a member of the family."

Marko leaned back, giving David a look. " _Dude_. Did Michael hit your head real hard or did you lose some of your memories during your dirt nap?"

"What are you talking about, Marko?"

"You told me during that night we split those four bottles of super expensive mezcal you stole from that Mexican restaurant and got _so_ drunk, back when we could still _get_ drunk, that you and Beth did the deed!"

David frowned. "I did?"

"Hell yeah, why would I make that up?" Marko shook his head. "I tease you guys because I know it happened."

The leader of the Lost Boys looked away, staring out at the open water. Marko was unlikely to lie; David had obviously confessed that secret, because it had happened. "That was a long time ago, when we were both still human."

"Yeah, I remember that part, too. Her gift to celebrate your step up in the ranks, when you took the plunge and turned half."

"No, it wasn't because of that..." David trailed off, lost in reverie. The mental images were broken, fragmented now. It felt like there were holes in his memories, black spots that were spreading like cancer. "It wasn't a gift, it wasn't a 'I'm off to war' pity fuck, it... it just _was_."

Marko's eyebrow arched slowly. "Max almost cut her loose because of it. You told me he had a change of heart, knew she'd die defending us, protecting _you_ , if someone tried to mess with the Boys on her watch."

"I know." David shrugged. "It was cheaper to turn her into a ghoul than request a hellhound. He saved a bundle on cases of Alpo cans by using Beth to protect us."

"Bud, hate to break it to you, but _Beth_ _is your hellhound_."

"Hard to be a hellhound when you're a vampire." David finished his cigarette, walking down the slope of the roof, and jumping off the edge. He landed softly in the grass, Marko dropping into place beside him.

"Max is gone, man. His rules don't apply. You've turned her. You can do whatever you want with Beth."

"Marko, for the last time, on the record: there isn't that kind of romance between us. She's protective in a jealous way, possessive, has a sense of ownership. I tolerate it because she's smart, isn't afraid to voice her dissent of my plans and tell me why, plus she knows a lot of shit that comes in handy."

"Like raising dead vampires."

"Precisely." David nodded. "I _don't_ love her. I don't love _anybody_. I give her the trust and respect she wants, sometimes a little extra that tells her I'm aware. She knows she's the _only_ one who gets that from me. And it _isn't_ love."

"Right."

"Besides, she was willing to die to bring me back. Can't really say the same about you, bud."

"Hey!" Marko growled as the vampires headed back towards the front of the house. "I don't know jack shit about raising the dead. If I'd tried, you probably would have come back with scrambled eggs for brains, pissing your pants."

"Then thank God _you_ didn't try." David snorted, opening the front door and entering the house.

***

They passed Maria in the hall, on her way to arm the alarm. Good nights were said before the vampires continued on down the hall to Max's master suite.

"Shouldn't we be back in the cave?" David asked as Marko opened the unlocked door.

"What, you don't like living in plushy luxury?"

David growled. "That's not what I meant."

"We'll go back, when it's time. You haven't even been back a full twenty-four hours, bud." Marko shook his head. "Give your brain a rest."

"Like he ever could." Beth's voice joined the conversation. She was sitting on the loveseat, a blanket wrapped around her shoulders.

"I can too switch off!" David growled louder. The other two vampires shared a look and laughed softly.

"No, no you can't, man." Marko chuckled.

David sulked, looking around the room, assessing the situation. "All right, everybody in bed."

"Ooh, kinky." Marko grinned playfully.

"What? Are you kidding me?" Beth asked in disbelief.

"The mattress is huge, Beth. We don't need a lot of space, since we don't toss and turn in our sleep. All three of us can share that damn bed." David explained as patiently as possible.

"This isn't how I imagined my first threesome." Marko snickered.

" _Marko!_ "

"I'll sleep on the loveseat." Beth stayed put, fixing the blanket tighter around her shoulders.

"No, you will sleep on the bed. We slept grouped together in the cave, safety in numbers."

"That was more of a lack of space to hang upside down from then a safety thing..." Marko challenged.

"Damn it, Marko!" David roared, red seeping into the blue of his irises. "Stop with the unhelpful commentary."

"Geez, fine, maybe the lady doesn't want to share a bed with you, or me, for that matter."

"She doesn't get a choice." David argued. "She's too valuable to lose, and as a brand new vampire, extremely vulnerable. Beth sleeps in the middle, us on either side of her."

"Fine. I call left side!" Marko darted around the side of the bed, sitting on the edge of the mattress to claim it. He was kicking off his boots and adjusting the duvet that covered the left side of the mattress, while Beth and David were locked in a battle of wills.

"David, I won't..." She stood up from the loveseat but didn't make a step towards the bed, clutching the blanket around herself.

"You can have the other duvet. I won't need it."

Beth frowned, watching David walk over and remove his coat from the hanger, sliding it on. "You're going to sleep in your coat?"

"Be thankful I'm not putting my boots on."

"No spurs in bed, dude. They'd tear up these super expensive European sheets!" Marko laughed.

"Get in." David commanded the blonde. Beth threw the blanket onto the recliner. She glared angrily at him as she walked past, crawling onto the mattress without further argument, yanking the duvet to the middle of the bed as well as the pillow. David grabbed one of the throw pillows from the loveseat, taking his place on the right side of the mattress before turning out the bedside lamp.

The room plunged into total darkness, the black plastic and curtains doing their job. It was as secure a space as they could hope for. David heard Marko roll on his back and settle. He had just folded his hands against the center of his chest when he heard the faint sniffling, felt the mattress gently shake.

Beth was huddled up in a ball, her back to David, knees drawn up to her chest, crying under the duvet. David lay still, listening to the soft sound in the otherwise silent bedroom.

He didn't care. Caring would have meant effort and he had already shown that by feeding her in the backseat of the sedan. It would have meant asking what was wrong and she probably had a laundry list she could recite him, knowing Beth. David knew he was responsible for her but he _could_ have just let her die out there with Michael and Star.

Continuing to lie still and reveal no signs that he was listening, David realized they weren't tears of mourning; they were tears of anger. His lip curled in a silent snarl. Whatever the heart of the problem was, there wasn't time to hash it out. The sunrise would have them all unconscious before that happened.

Rolling over, David slid his arms free of the sleeves of the coat while moving himself across the mattress to close the gap between him and the petite blonde. She froze as he wrapped half of his coat around her, like a giant wing, under the duvet.

Stretching out his right arm under the pillow she had commandeered, David settled it under his head, pulling the opposite corner down so Beth could share it. She was still unyielding, wary about the fact he was trying to protectively spoon her.

"Shhh," he soothed, his arm moving achingly slow to curl over her waist, neither too high nor too low. "Just like old times, huh?"

The blonde stopped crying, sniffling once or twice. "You hogged the covers."

"You regularly kicked me in your sleep."

Beth was still rigid under his tentative embrace. David sighed. The fact she still took his commands was mostly for show, a leftover habit out of long-suffering loyalty. It wouldn't work now that she wasn't a ghoul anymore. They were practically equal as vampires.

"You're still my favorite ferocious little fairy, Tink."

"Shit." Beth sighed, her body starting to relax against him, her back pressing against his chest. "I thought you forgot all that by now."

"Max read _Peter Pan_ to us all one time too many." David snorted softly, his arm pulling tighter around her. "We really are the Lost Boys, castoffs and runaways who banded together to make a new family."

"Emphasis on the _boys_ ," Beth reminded him. "Max didn't want girls to be vampires. He liked us better as ghouls, using us to serve and protect. I remember how many didn't survive the transformation. How many boys died, never became full vampires."

"It's not an exact science," David shrugged.

"Says the first boy that survived, Max's favorite success story."

David pursed his lips. There wasn't much to say in reply; it was true, he had been the first vampire Max had created from his ragtag band of runaways. Whether or not there had been others, long before David, no one really knew.

"Max was wrong to send you away, Beth."

"He was angry, _terrified_ , at how well we worked together. He never understood how we clicked, how I could almost read your thoughts, finish your sentences." Beth leaned back more, pressing into David. "Max didn't have that with Maria. She served him to the bitter end but they didn't have the connection..."

"He didn't bond with her." David corrected the blonde. "Not like I did with you. Like you said, blood calls to blood."

Beth chewed her lip. "They don't know that's how I knew I could bring you back, David. They all think it's because we're linked through Max, though his blood."

David nodded. "They don't need to know." There was a long stretch of silence before Beth shook her head, her hair tickling David's nose.

"That's why Max sent me away." Beth sniffled, rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand.

"What?" David tensed, frowning. "He told me it was because you refused to..."

"He figured out what we'd done, David." Beth interrupted him, her voice low. "He cornered me and found the flask, tasted the contents. Max put enough of the pieces together. Why I was unlike any of the other ghouls."

David rolled the petite blonde over to face him, staring at her in the dark, knowing she could see his face just as clearly. "Tell me what happened, Beth."

"Max said it was you or me but we both know it would have been me that would have been killed, period. You were more important to him than an stubborn ghoul who was also a half vampire."

Red bled into the blue of David's eyes, his fangs descending, the anger running hot in his veins. She had been his secret experiment; they had shared blood as humans, again after he had turned half but before his initial kill, and a third time when she had become a ghoul and he was a full vampire. Max had only known about last time, when he had agreed to Beth serving David and the Lost Boys, had overseen the blood sharing.

It had been a successful experiment. Beth had had all the powers of a ghoul and a half vampire, with none of the weaknesses. She could walk as easily in the sunlight as a human would, could fly like a vampire when it was night. It was how David had known she would rise up again after he drained her in the field, leading Michael and Star to believe Beth dead.

"He's dead, David, your anger can't punish a dead man."

David growled. "Max was such a fool. If he'd only realized the possibilities, imagined what having a whole bunch of..."

"Until they took the notion to kill him and rule Santa Carla, just like you did." Beth reminded the vampire. David frowned, the furrows in his brow deepened by his vampiric features.

"You're right. You were a weapon against him, an ace up my sleeve that only I could play." David brushed his thumb over Beth's cheek, where his bloody prints had been only hours ago.

"I wouldn't tell him all we'd done and Max wouldn't be able to replicate all the steps we took without one of us confessing. So he gave me the false ultimatum knowing damn well what my answer would be, then he... he _sent_ me away."

"You're back. And now I'm king of the castle." David's voice was solemn as he reassured her.

Beth sighed, closing her eyes. "We are not the same as we were when we were parted, David."

"No, we're not. I'm not the same since I died and spent two months trapped in a void of nothingness, slowly losing my mind." He could feel her shock at his revelation.

"David, I'm sorry. I'm sorry I couldn't bring you back sooner."

"You still did it, succeeded where no one else would have. My plan was true, one of the smartest things I ever did." His countenance melted back into his human face. "Max would have lost the war if he hadn't gotten us all into that goddamn mess."

"David, I'm tired." The blonde crossed her arms in an x-shape in front of her chest, settling comfortably under his coat, still facing him.

"Then sleep, Tinker Bell." David watched her fall asleep, before his own eyes closed and he too went unconscious under the rising sun.


	14. "hold on to what you want"

Maria yawned as she entered the sun-lit kitchen. Max's house was quiet, even at mid-afternoon. The teenagers in the living room, camped out in sleeping bags, were mostly still asleep. The smell of coffee and breakfast foods would wake them soon enough.

Sophia was manning the stove, while Jake poured Maria a mug of coffee. She took it, giving him a smile of thanks. "Sleep okay?"

"Yeah, but we need to really crack down on how many kids sleep here. That neighbor down the street has been calling the cops constantly and is getting suspicious as to why nothing's being done."

"Damn," Maria sighed, taking a sip of the hot, dark liquid. "Well, now that David's back, we can start weeding through them."

Sophia laid a plate of scrambled eggs, sausages, and toast on the island counter. "Charlie went in early to open the video store."

"Good, I'm going in around four to look over the books." Maria took the plate and headed over to the dining room table, taking a seat in a chair at the end. "We need to have a meeting with the vampires tonight. I know it's not much time for David to adjust but it's crucial to decide what path this family is on."

"You know what he'll say." Jake grumbled as he joined Maria at the table with his own breakfast plate.

"Yeah, that he's in charge. Which is technically true." Maria nodded. "He's the oldest vampire now and I'm the eldest ghoul."

"What about Beth?" Sophia asked, scrambling eggs in the pan on the stove. "She's going to back his claim, for sure. They were as thick as thieves before the Emersons moved into town."

They all knew Beth was possessive of things when it came to David. No one quite understood the full dynamic between the two but it had been quietly accepted. She had done her job as a ghoul and had protected the Boys, with no complaints.

Maria drank some of her coffee, letting the caffeine work into her bloodstream. "I didn't get a chance to talk to her. She made herself scarce after they got back. The plan was to use her blood to kick start David's healing factor then feed him Star and Michael. I guess it all went like clockwork."

Sophia and Jake both nodded. "I hope the bastard suffered. Never did like Michael." Jake added, stuffing a forkful of eggs into his mouth. Maria dug into her own breakfast.

"It wouldn't have gone down in the first place, if Star hadn't been put in with the Boys." Sophia complained.

"Mm," Maria shook her head. "Max was dead set on winning Lucy over. Beth would have impeded the process. She may not have vocally challenged it but she would have tried to undermine it. That's why Max sent her away. She and David combined are wickedly smart and equally dangerous."

"All David wants is power, that's what Marko said." Jake raised a brow skeptically.

"That's what Marko _said_ but now we have David here to tell us himself." Maria replied. The humans had been kept separate from the vampires through a chain of command. Maria had been the point of contact for Max, Beth for the Lost Boys. Both had been Max's eyes and ears. It had eventually worked to Max's disadvantage, though, when he had removed Beth and put Star into the cave. He hadn't known what the Boys were up to, not having Beth to observe and report.

Sophia brought her plate to the table and sat down. "Star _was_ a traitor." She stated bitterly before she began to eat.

"Star wasn't one of us. Max didn't take the time to find someone who was loyal to the family. It might have gone differently if he had." Maria didn't disagree with Sophia's assessment. She was still in defense mode, protecting Max. "Physically, Star was Michael's type. Max refused to make her a ghoul but allowed David to turn her half, to weaken her chances of running away. Laddie was another weight to keep her in place but David screwed up by turning him into a half-vampire, too."

Maria shuddered at the memory of Max's violent reaction to David turning a child under the age of ten into a half-vampire. David had been quite nonchalant, making some mention of 'our own personal Eddie Munster' in a joking way. Max had punched David right in the mouth for that quip.

"Do you think David will want to make more vampires as soon as possible?" Jake asked Maria.

"I don't know that he can." She answered truthfully. "David's not as old as Max was and we're running low on the blood Max stored for emergencies. It would be unwise to use them solely for that purpose. Santa Carla can't support an army of the undead. Five vampires were pushing it."

"That number's been halved."

"Yeah, and we need to make David agree to keep it that way, at least for a while."

***

Marko yawned, arching his back in a spine-popping stretch as he awoke. He'd become accustomed to sleeping like a human, on a mattress or a couch, for weeks now. It was far more comfortable than hanging upside down from pipes in a stone-cold cave.

Looking to his right, he could see David's expressionless face, pale as the pillow under his head. It took a longer look to understand David's coat spread out under the duvet, the top of Beth's blonde head peeking out from just under it. They took up two-thirds of the Californian-king mattress, huddled together, though Marko still had plenty of room.

" _'It's not like that, Marko'_ ," the curly haired vampire mocked quietly in a singsong tone, rolling his eyes as he got out of bed.

Grabbing some of the comic books stolen from the Frogs' shop, he sprawled on the loveseat and turned on one of the lamps so it would be easier to read by. The issue in his hands was one he'd read a couple of times, so it failed to distract him, letting his thoughts occupy his mind.

It had been rough, assuming Beth's place in a way, after Max had ripped her out and tossed her to the winds. Marko had become David's gopher, his loyal manservant, and it wasn't that bad but the dude could get real bossy at times. It was hard to voice dissent, since no one really knew how Beth could do that and get away with it. David didn't like being told 'no' when he wanted to do something.

Marko hadn't had much of an opinion about Star. He had been nice to her, to a point, but she was in the cave with a job to do, not be coddled or coached. Laddie had been an even worse idea and Marko still regretted Beth not being there to put a stop to that. Thankfully Dwayne had gotten along with the tyke and shared some of the responsibility for him with Star.

David sat up suddenly, his legs swinging over the side of the mattress. "I can't remember the last time I slept in a bed."

"Pretty comfy," Marko replied, tossing the comic book back on the side table. "Sleep well?"

"Better than I did seven feet underground."

"I guess you could call it an improvement."

David got up, leaving Beth under his coat. "Where are the bikes, Marko?"

"Stashed in the detached garage."

"Good, we won't have to go far to get them."

Marko got up from the loveseat, stretching his arms up over his head as he yawned. "How many we gonna need? I think Beth could ride Paulie's..."

"Two." David cut him off. "Beth rides with me, just like she used to."

"And you tell me you two aren't attached..."

" _Marko_." David growled. "Beth can have one of the bikes if she wants but until she's made a kill, she rides with me."

"Right, boss."

David bristled. He hated when Marko called him that, even if it was quite accurate. "Beth, get up."

The blonde sat up in bed, David's coat sliding away. "What time is it?"

"After sundown." Marko answered as he pulled out a switchblade and made a slit in the black plastic that covered the doors to the patio.

"Should I inherently know that, being a vampire?"

"You will," David confirmed, snatching his coat up and sliding into it. "After you get a good meal. Get dressed, we're going to the Boardwalk."

The blonde yawned and slid out from the bed, tugging the oversized black t-shirt down as she disappeared into Max's walk-in closet. Marko had finished monkeying around with the doors by the time she returned, fully dressed and pulling on her leather jacket. David was frowning, crumpling the empty cigarette pack in his fist.

"Okay, I need smokes."

"I'll get some after we get to the Boardwalk." Beth yawned. "You two can scout."

"I can lead perfectly well on my own, Beth." David growled.

"Yeah, yeah."

Marko flipped the deadbolt and turned the lock on the doorknob. "Let's get this dog and pony show started." He headed out onto the patio first, followed by David and Beth. Marko pulled the door shut. No one in the house would know they weren't in the master suite, and the French doors were locked from the inside.

The three vampires headed around the house, back across the bridge, and stopped in front of the detached garage. Marko tugged free the key ring that hung from a chain on his belt and went to the side door, unlocking it. The electric motor that opened the garage door chugged to life as the door rose, revealing the four motorcycles parked within.

David was already walking his bike out into the driveway, Marko following suit, while Beth headed to the back of the garage to close the door. Marko felt a pang of anger as Dwayne and Paul's bikes were hidden again.

"It's not fair, man," he complained, swinging a leg over his bike and mounting up.

David shrugged, already seated on his bike. He revved the throttle, letting the beast of a machine blow out the dust, knowing it had likely sat idle for all the time he was gone. "The breaks of the game. Sometimes you live, sometimes you die."

"Yeah but Beth..."

"She's given you ample reasons why she can't bring them back, Marko. Let it go."

The blonde appeared from around the side of the detached garage, walking past Marko and his bike to the side of David's. He glanced at her, smiling as her arm went around his neck without a word, swinging up behind him. Beth settled like she'd never left, her arms loose around David's waist.

"Let's go, Marko." David called as he gunned the bike into the street and down the hill. Marko whooped in excitement as he followed behind. The Boys were back in town.


	15. "hold on to what you have"

There were humans crowding the Boardwalk even though it was a Sunday evening, people taking advantage of the warm autumn weather that made the night pleasant. David was glad to find something that hadn't changed in his absence.

After parking their bikes in the usual spot, he and Marko had headed towards the covered colonnade, scaring open a spot with just a dark look. David smiled to himself; he still had _it_. He leaned against the iron rail as Marko hopped atop it, both vampires looking out at the less crowded beach.

The incessant sounds of people talking and laughing mixed with the noise of the amusement rides and the rock music that was pumping through speakers placed throughout the Boardwalk. It felt like he was home again; the atmosphere soothed David's mind and reminded him of how awesome it was to live in such a place, with a steady source of tourists to eat and a cave to live in right on the ocean.

If other vampires existed out in the rest of the world, none had it so good as David did.

"Oh wow!" Marko exclaimed as Beth returned from her errand, handing him a flyer. "I wonder if they sprung for milk cartons, too?"

He flashed it at David, grinning. It was a standard **MISSING** flyer, one of hundreds that dotted the telephone poles and public notice boards throughout the coastal town. A black and white photo of Edgar and Alan Frog, looking solemn and expressionless as usual, stared up at David.

"Here," Beth handed David a pack of Camels, which he promptly tore into. She turned to Marko, nodding her head at the flyer. "You better stash that before someone sees us looking at it."

"Yeah, I guess so." Marko shrugged, crumpling the flyer up and stuffing it into his jacket pocket.

"You mentioned something about those Rambo-wannabes last night?" David eyed Marko while he lit up.

"All part of my rehabilitation therapy!" Marko grinned, his eyes bright. "You know how flammable old comics are? _Pretty damn flammable_!"

David looked at Beth, who shrugged. "It seems the Frogs improperly stored some boxes of comics next to a heat source and they unfortunately lost their store and main source of income."

"Oh really."

"And their parents." Marko's grin took on a decidedly evil cast. "Smoke inhalation will do that."

"Edgar and Alan were put up temporarily in a local motel, since they couldn't return to the family home, now being adolescent wards of the state. That and the horrific sewage backup that had rendered the home inhospitable." Beth explained.

"You've been a busy boy, Marko." David chuckled.

"The Emersons must have put up the flyers. The Frogs have no immediate family in the area, or the state." Beth mused. "The fire happened over four weeks ago. It was all a tragic set of a circumstances to befall the Frog family. Do you think Sam got a idea in his head and suspected us?"

"We didn't come to the Boardwalk, babe." Marko shook his head.

"You didn't?" David tilted his head, looking between the two vampires. "We _always_ come here."

"Didn't feel right without you, and if one of them had seen me they'd have known something was coming. Beth and Maria kept me supplied with take-away." Marko winked. "It was kind of nice, having home delivered meals."

"We didn't go out because you were in rocky shape for the first few weeks." Beth reminded him. David's brow rose.

"Really?"

Beth eyed him. "What, you feel off, too?" David scowled at her. "You better tell me, if you aren't feeling one hundred percent."

"I'm _fine_ , Beth."

Marko drummed his hands on his thighs, looking out over the beach. "I doubt Sam knew. We didn't... you _know_... pick up his friends until two weeks after we knew they were being held by the state. And we paid fat bribes to get the case dropped and them registered as runaways."

"Sam knew his friends were missing. The Frogs put all kinds of ideas into his head about what goes on in this town."

"Like that little butthead would be smart enough to figure all out on his own." Marko scoffed.

"He was smart enough to consider Max wasn't what he seemed." Beth countered.

"Enough discussion!" David ground the cigarette butt out under his boot heel. "Beth, go walk, we'll be back at the bikes."

"Uh, David..." Marko warned, giving his leader a look.

"I am _not her_ , David." Beth snapped, her blue eyes darkening. "I don't cruise the Boardwalk looking for easy pickings."

David frowned, his back straightening, rising to his full height. "You're right." He didn't bother to apologize. Beth was staring at him.

"Gaps in your memory, David? Or just picking up right where you left off?"

"Shut. Up." He hissed at the blonde, giving her a dark look as he sailed away from the railing, into the crowd. Marko shook his head as he hopped down from the rail.

"There's a meal out there somewhere, just waiting to be eaten." He made a sweeping gesture with his hand. "Don't prod him too hard, girl. You know how I was the first couple of nights back."

"Yeah, that's what worries me. You we could handle. David..." Beth shook her head. "That's a whole different ball game."

"Once he eats he'll be right as rain."

"I hope you're right, Marko."

***

Maria heard the roar of the engines, as the last of the Lost Boys rolled into the parking spaces outside the video store. Beth entered first, well ahead of the Boys, barely making eye contact as she passed through to the back of the store. Maria's brow rose in curiosity. Something was definitely up.

The jingle of David's spurs and Marko's easy laughter came next as they entered the store. There was no Thorn to growl at them, no Max to give them public warnings to 'never come in here'. Maria finished ringing up her customer before she came over to the Boys, who were hanging around the opposite side of the counter.

"You can borrow whatever you want, there's no late fees for family." She smiled, laughing with Marko. David didn't join in, he seemed to be in a sullen mood. But then it was David; when wasn't he?

"I saw Beth breeze through."

David nodded. "Indigestion."

"Oh?" Maria was decidedly curious now. "Ate something that disagreed?"

"Something like that...ow!" Marko glared at David, who had elbowed him in the ribs.

"You all left without a word tonight. Jake told me when he called." Maria looked between the two vampires. "He didn't know you were up and about until he heard the bikes."

"What, you're tracking our whereabouts?" David frowned. "Since when did we start checking in and giving an itinerary?"

"Since you became our only assets." Maria countered. "Beth should have told you, and you knew that too, Marko."

The curly-haired blond only shrugged. "Like David would be cool with it?"

Maria could see that indeed David was not. "I'm sorry no one told you but that's how things are now, David. We keep tabs on each other."

"Whatever." David flicked a piece of lint from the glass counter top, clearly unhappy at the idea of being tracked.

"Do you think you can be at the house by eleven?" Maria asked carefully, not wanting to upset the vampire further." I'd like to have a meeting so we can get on the same page."

"I suppose." David drawled, his attention elsewhere, watching Beth reappear from the back of the store. Her gaze met his before her eyes widened and she abruptly turned around, dashing back towards the bathroom.

Maria nodded, leaving them to wander the store while she helped check out another customer. Marko disappeared into the comedy section, perusing the titles. David hung out in the section nearest to the door that led to the office and employee bathroom. Beth did not reappear.

Ten minutes passed. David waited until Maria was free before he stalked over to her. "Go get Beth."

"What? Why? If she's sick, David, I don't want to go in there." Maria grimaced.

David glared. If he explained, Maria would know what he'd done to Beth. And he wasn't ready to reveal that. " _Fine_."

Stalking through the rental shelves, David pushed open the door that read 'Employees Only'. To his immediate left was the bathroom. The door was ajar, the lights off. The vampire frowned, walking the few paces towards the open door down the hall: Max's office.

The lights were on, the large desk covered in paperwork and open ledgers, soft rock music playing from a small stereo set in the window. No Beth. David glowered, leaning back from the doorway and looking at the large metal fire door set at the end of the hallway. He could smell the faint scent of strawberry.

" _Damn it_!" He snarled under his breath, eyes flashing red.


	16. "hold on to where you are"

Storming out of the back of the video store like a bat out of hell, David blew by the counter. He nodded at Maria. "Eleven."

Maria looked up, startled by the commotion. She quickly nodded at David. "Okay."

Marko popped up from between some shelves, tossing a VHS clamshell to Maria. "Bring that with you!" He hurried out into the parking lot, jumping on his bike, struggling to keep up with David. The leader of the Lost Boys had already driven away.

Marko finally caught up to him at a red light. Usually David blew through them but he wasn't sure where he was headed.

"Dude, what the hell?" Marko yelled at him as he pulled his bike to a stop, waiting for the light to change.

"The cave. I want to go back to the cave."

"I dunno, man." Marko answered warily. Looking towards the sky, he could see the stars and the moon dimly above the city lights. "We have time but I don't know that either of us should go back there..."

The light changed green. David rode off like a shot.

Marko sighed and followed, chasing after David's taillight.

***

David twisted the handlebars, turning the tire and sliding to a stop near the base of the wooden access stairs, having cut the engine a hundred yards earlier. The wind blew hard, tugging at the bottom of his coat, blowing in through the holes torn by the horns. He heard Marko pull up and cut the engine of his bike.

"We should have someone with us," he warned.

"We're _vampires_ , Marko!" David snapped. "We don't need someone to hold our hands. It's _our_ cave!"

Marko watched David dismount his bike and head towards the staircase. With a sigh, Marko shook his head and scrambled to keep up.

Over the narrow stretch of the wooden bridge where the waves splashed whoever dared to cross it, David stomped, the sound of his boot falls being swallowed by the roar of the ocean. He paused upon reaching the opening that led into the cave, looking around for the pieces of driftwood, the ones they kept for torches.

"Here," Marko's voice called, handing David a plastic flashlight. David gave him a look but thumbed the switch just the same.

They could see perfectly well without the flashlight; David figured it was just out of habit he had sought a driftwood torch. Partly because Star and Laddie had needed the light and warmth provided by fire, and probably because vampires liked creature comforts, too.

The worn stones that gave a natural entry into the heart of the cave were slick. David's boots slipped a few times as he made his way inside, shining the beam of light around the large room erratically.

Everything seemed to be exactly where it had been left. Just...empty.

There was a clicking sound that drew his attention. David looked over his shoulder to see Marko with a lighter in hand, touching the flame to some of the candles. A warm glow began to fill part of the cave, making David feel better. He turned the flashlight off, setting it down.

"They violated our home."

"They're dead, man." Marko shrugged. "I was with you, totally down for Old Testament 'eye for an eye' revenge. But it's over. They're dead."

"Edgar's not."

"As good as. We can off him whenever you want. I don't think he's gonna have much more to say."

David circled around the broken fountain, coming to a stop in front of the wheelchair. "The grandfather."

"Beth wanted to talk to him. Maybe that's where she went?" Marko looked around, lighting more candles.

"No." David shook his head. He had a pretty good idea where the blonde had disappeared. "Do you think the grandfather knows anything of worth?"

"Dunno, bud. Edgar related some pretty fantastic stories but how much of what comes out of his cake hole is truth? If Michael's grandpa did _half_ of what Edgar claims, then he's a bonafide vampire hunter."

David didn't buy it. If the old man was a vampire hunter, or knew vampires existed, why had he let his grandsons become involved with them? "You think he's in his seventies? Early eighties?"

"I guess so? Maria would know."

"Maybe he knew about Max, suspected something." David touched the arm of the wheelchair before taking a seat in it. "If the old man has lived most of his life here, watched the town change around him..."

"Max was good but it would be hard to hide his longtime involvement in the community." Marko nodded. "One vampire might get away with it, but five? Five was pushing it."

David took the cigarette from behind his ear and lit it, letting the nicotine calm him as he sat quietly, thinking. Marko moved around the cave, lighting a few more candles before he started looking through the stuff they had collected. A few smaller items he pocketed, others he left where they were.

The sound of the water crashing against the rocks filled the chamber as the two vampires remained silent. David brooded and Marko left him to it. Sometimes there wasn't much to do when David was in a dark mood. Marko's gaze drifted up to the hole in the cave wall, where the tunnel led to the room where he died.

He walked away from it, picking up Paul's beloved boom box, ejecting the cassette tape from within. "Paulie's gonna want this back." He muttered to himself, stuffing it in his jacket pocket.

"Paul's not coming back, Marko."

"You don't know that! Beth said something about bone marrow..."

David was in front of him suddenly, looming with a scowl on his face, his shadow stretched up and distorted on the rock wall behind him. His eyes had a wild look that Marko couldn't quite decipher. " _Paul and Dwayne aren't coming back_. They're dead and gone, Marko. I heard them. _I heard them_ before I came to in the darkness, and then I heard _nothing!_ "

Marko stared back at the lead vampire, defiance in his eyes. In his heart he knew the truth: there wasn't _anything_ to bring back. His friends were dead; the fun was over. He was stuck with David for the rest of eternity.

The curly haired blond walked away, headed for where Dwayne had stashed the stolen comic books. David let him go, taking a final drag off the cigarette before lighting another.

He wanted to stay in the cave, hole up like some great monstrous dragon, luring in people who dared come to take a peek inside. He wanted it to feel the way it had before, as the Boys' sanctuary, their home turf, but the damage was done. The Emersons and the Frogs had violated it, killed Marko within its walls. Star had sold them out and given herself to Michael in that very corner...

David balled his hands into fists and roared, the noise deepening as he transformed, his fangs extending and his eyes burning golden red.


	17. "I'm your fear, I'm your monster"

Maria supervised the cleanup of the living room while she ate half of a tuna fish sandwich that Sophia had made her. If they were going to have the meeting she wanted, the dining room wouldn't hold all that needed to be present. The sleeping bags, empty pizza boxes, and soda cans needed to go.

"Jake, bring a chair in from the table, will you? David will want to sit in one." She called, swallowing another bite of the sandwich. Charlie was busy turning away some of the extra teenagers who had come by looking for their friends. Sophia was cleaning up the kitchen, while a few of the trustworthy teenagers rearranged the living room sectional back to its proper place.

"They're here!" Charlie called, the thrum of the motorcycle engines heard clearly by those in the front part of the house. Maria finished her sandwich, wiping her hands on her jeans.

"No, don't sit down yet." She directed, waving her hands at the teenagers as she passed through to the front hall. David walked in, trailed by Marko. Beth was nowhere to be seen.

"Eleven o'clock, as you asked." David spoke. Maria smiled nervously then nodded, her expression growing serious.

"After you," she motioned to the vampires, who continued up the hall into the living. David took a seat in the wooden chair placed in front of the modern fireplace. Marko camped out on the solid slab of rock that was the extended hearth, just to David's right.

Maria nodded, signaling the rest of the ghouls and humans to take seats in the living room. She, along with Charlie, Sophia, and Jake, took seats on the couch across from David. Everyone else filled in the spots on the floor or stood behind the sectional.

David looked around the room at the faces he didn't recognize. Max had never really let the different tiers meet, at least not knowingly. "Maria, you're going to have to introduce us."

"Of course," Maria agreed, standing up and gesturing to the three on the couch with her. "David, this is Charlie. He's the last ghoul Max made, to help him in Los Gatos." David returned the nod the black-haired young man gave him, noting he wore black-frame glasses. He was younger than Maria, probably the youngest of the ghouls, and of Mexican descent.

Maria continued down the line. "Sophia," the white brunette whose hair had honey highlights, "and Jake," who was the sporty-looking blond with the surfer's tan. Maria gestured to the ten teenagers that filled in the rest of the living room. "These were Max's network, his eyes and ears around Santa Carla."

Sweeping his gaze across the group, David slowly nodded. They looked reliable enough. Most seemed to understand the seriousness of the situation, all of them looking intently at the vampire in silence.

"Everybody, Marko you know. But for those who never met him before the... before what happened, this is David. The leader of the Lost Boys, Max's first success."

Heads nodded in greeting. David remained silent, hearing a few quiet whispers behind cupped hands. Maria returned to her seat between Charlie and Sophia.

"All right, let's get started." David leaned back in the wooden chair.

"Shouldn't we wait for-" Sophia began, stopping when Maria gestured for her to fall silent.

"We need to know what you intend to do, David. We are aware that there was something of a power struggle between yourself and Max towards the end. Now that he's met his untimely demise, do you intend to stay in Santa Carla or disband?" Maria questioned the vampire.

David was quiet for a moment before speaking. "For the moment, it's my intention to stay in Santa Carla. There is unfinished business to attend to, namely Edgar Frog and Lucy Emerson's father. I understand you have Max's businesses and investments well in hand, Maria. Although you are legally freed from your obligations to Max, I would like you to continue on. I see no need to close up shop if Max designed everything to stay the course."

"I accept your offer but request that a new bond not be required." Maria answered.

"Why?"

"Because I'll be forty next April and I would like a chance to settle, to start a family, David. I've already got longevity to look forward to, thanks to Max. I've trained Sophia since her first day as a ghoul. I would happily nominate her as my replacement."

David looked at the brunette. "Do you have objections?"

"No," Sophia shook her head. "I'm still young. A new bond would extend my life. My only request would be for you to allow Jake to take the bond, too. We're a couple."

"Sophie, I'm not sure..." Jake stammered, looking worried.

"No, no, that's fine." David waved a hand, silencing Jake. "You're likely a reliable second and already a ghoul, so if one of you should do your job poorly, I can always punish the other to remind you how important it is _not to fuck up_."

An uncomfortable silence filled the living room. Marko rolled his eyes, letting out a low whistle.

"Um," Maria looked nervously between the two vampires.

"I'm not joking." David leaned forward, staring at the four ghouls on the couch. "Max was old and powerful enough that he didn't have to rule by intimidation and fear. He was kind to you all because he could snap your necks before you could blink." David let his countenance slip, morphing into the vampire. "I may not be as old or as powerful but I'm still the top of the food chain in this family."

There was more silence, some uncomfortable shifting. Maria was the only one not to show open fear; she had lived with Max for too long, knew what he and the Boys were capable of as vampires.

"That leads me to an important question, David. Will you be making more vampires?"

David leaned back in the chair, his face impassive, the tips of his fangs visible against his lower lip. "No."

Maria felt some relief though she tried not to show it. "So it's just going to be the two of you from now on?"

"Three, actually." David nodded towards the figure entering the living room. Everyone but Marko turned to look. There were some gasps, a few soft swears. David smiled.

Beth walked between the pieces of the sectional, headed towards David and Marko. Dried blood stained her mouth, the rusty color running over her chin to mid-chest, the black t-shirt she wore wet and clinging to her frame. Her fingertips were crusted with gore and the paleness of her skin made the sickening signs of murder stand out all the more.

Giving David a dark look as she came to a stop beside the chair, she turned around and took her place at the vampire's left hand. Beth crossed her arms over her chest, the leather jacket squeaking in soft protest, ignoring the openly staring faces.

"As you can see, Beth is no longer my ghoul." David explained, his smile straying into a smirk. "She made her first kill earlier this evening."

"Beth?" Maria asked in a strained tone. None of the ghouls had expected this turn of events.

"I told you I could bring David back but there would be a cost." The blonde kept her gaze averted as she answer the black-haired woman. "David decided this was my _reward_ for years of loyal service."

Marko snorted softly at that. David's smirk drew down into a scowl.

"Don't any of _you_ expect this kind of 'reward' from _me_. Santa Carla barely survived supporting five vampires. Had Max gotten his way there would have been eight; eleven in total had Star and Laddie fully turned. I'm not stupid, not foolish to believe we could have continued to go unnoticed with that many people disappearing to keep us all fed."

"I also have no intention of making any more ghouls. The four of you are suited to your positions and should keep them. I may not be as benevolent a leader as Max but I also know when not to fix things that aren't broken."

Beth snorted this time. David turned his head and glared at her before turning back to the ghouls.

"Charlie, I would suggest you start looking for a buyer for the property in Los Gatos. There's no sense in expanding when we don't have the means to support it. I want this family centralized and stable in Santa Carla. It's where we belong."

"Okay." Charlie nodded a little too enthusiastically.

"Do you have enough staff at the video store, Maria?"

"We could use a few part time staff. I'd prefer to find some adults that can work the earlier shifts."

"Fine. Put an ad in the paper. We'll review candidates when you have some." David waved a hand in dismissal.

"Do any of you have any news to report?" Beth asked the human teenagers.

"There's this." One of the older teenagers sitting on the floor produced a copy of the Sunday edition of the _Santa Carla Sentinel_. On the front page was a full color photo of the smoldering remains of the Emerson's lodge-style home. The banner headline proclaimed ' **Blaze Destroys Historic Home - Arson Suspected** '.

Beth took the paper from the teenager, scanning the article before handing it to David. The vampire skimmed the story as Marko leaned forward to take a look at the photo of his handiwork.

"What about it?" Beth asked the teenager.

The young man looked among his friends before turning back to the blonde vampire. "Won't they figure out stuff and come here?"

Beth shook her head, trying to keep patience in her tone. "The article states that there were no bodies found amongst the burned-out ruins. They make mention that Lucy Emerson, her son Sam, and another unidentified young boy were killed in a tragic two car accident Friday afternoon just north of Monterey, while her father, the legal owner of the home, was hospitalized in critical condition. The article goes on to state that Lucy's eldest son, Michael, is currently missing and his whereabouts are unknown."

"Not unknown to _us_ ," Marko muttered with a dark chuckle.

"As far as the police are concerned," the blonde leaned closer to the teenager, letting him see the blood on her face, smell death on her breath. "They will eventually decide that Michael was responsible for the destruction of the house. Distraught over the death of his beloved mother and brother, he was likely the victim of a mental breakdown and acted rashly out of grief. In time he will be removed from the rolls as a person of interest wanted for questioning and penned in as the victim of suicide, believed to have drowned. No one will go looking for his remains; there will be no funeral. As there is no mention of Star in the story, because she was a runaway and unknown to live with the Emersons, she has been completely erased from existence."

The teenager gulped as Beth smiled prettily, her teeth white against her bloodied lips.

" _Bravo!_ " David clapped his hands, suitably impressed by Beth's skills.

"Holy shit, girl, you are magic!" Marko whistled appreciatively.

Beth returned to her spot beside David's left, her hand resting on the back of the wooden chair. David smiled at the ghouls and assembled teenagers.

"Now you know exactly how we'll survive this setback. Not only survive but also _thrive_ here in Santa Carla. We own this town, through the dedication and hard work of the ghouls, through the bribes and blackmail of city officials and members of the police. Every member of this family is important and has their part to play, all the way down to you, the eyes and ears Max relied upon."

Marko stood up, standing on David's right. All three vampires smiled, fangs bared, eyes glowing, revealing themselves to the assembled group.

"Any questions?" David smirked.


	18. "what's hiding in your shadow"

David stayed behind to talk to the ghouls, as the teenagers rearranged the living room to make up their nightly accommodations on the floor. Beth and Marko shared a look as they headed through the entryway, out the front door and around the side of the house.

"A hell of an entrance, girl." Marko grinned as they walked through the side yard. The master suite doors were still locked from the inside, requiring them to reenter through the patio doors.

"I didn't stage it." Beth seemed tired. "I didn't have time to clean up."

"Uh huh." Marko was skeptical. He knew both she and David had a flair for the dramatic, using it to their advantage as much as possible. "So where were you?"

"At the police precinct, cementing that story."

"Looks like you ate a cop."

Beth shook her head. "It takes a lot of power to plant false memories. It would be easier for David to do it, but I already knew what holes needed to be plugged, so I went myself."

"Then stopped for a second meal, huh."

"The first one didn't agree with me." Beth sighed.

Marko nodded. "That happens, girl. Your body purging your humanity, accepting its corrupted state of immortality." His fingers were on the doorknob when Beth put her hand on his arm.

"I tried, Marko," she said as she extended her other arm, holding her hand out to give him something. "But there's just not enough left..."

"Don't say it." Marko snapped, taking the small objects she offered him. He looked at the rings in his palm, the silver dull and stained with dried blood. One was set with a blue eye, the other one hazel. He slid the blue one on his right middle finger, the hazel eye onto his left. "You tried?"

The blonde nodded, sorrow on her features. "We can burn the remains, bury the ashes. Whatever you and David decide."

Marko nodded tightly. It wouldn't do to have the festering pieces of Dwayne stinking up the safe house. "Okay. We'll decide soon."

"I'm sorry, Marko. I'll miss them, too."

"Yeah, girl. We'll all miss them." Marko opened the door and headed inside the master suite. Beth sighed, looking up at the night sky, before following him in.

***

"I want you to select the five weakest; the ones that are more trouble than they're worth, the ones who've invited the interlopers and coattail riders, opened our home to those who can't hold their tongues. Kill them, along with any of their friends who saw me walk into the living room last night, and tell the surviving five that _that's_ what will happen to them if they don't take me seriously." David ordered Maria and the three other ghouls, as they stood in the kitchen, talking quietly. "If you don't feel up to murder, you have three hungry vampires who will do it for you."

Of the four ghouls, Charlie looked the greenest around the gills. David clapped his shoulder. "You've survived this long. Welcome to the big leagues."

"Thanks, I think."

Maria sighed, digesting David's order. "That'll cut down on our eyes and ears around town."

"We don't need that many. You're going to be stamping out the embers, more than you already have been, since word's gotten round about this house. I may have to pay a personal visit to that nosy neighbor you mentioned."

"David, he's a long-standing member of the chamber of commerce. They'd notice him missing."

David gave Maria a look. "I didn't say I was gonna kill him. Just put the fear of _me_ into him."

"Pizza's here!" A teenage voice called from the living room, where cheers went up. David shook his head, while the ghouls exchanged looks.

"We'll take care of it." Jake reassured the vampire.

"I _expect_ you to." David's lip curled in a sneer. He gave Maria a final glance before he left the kitchen.

"I kind of miss Max. He was a jerk at times but not like _this_." Sophia whispered, eliciting tentative chuckles from the others.


	19. "now take me"

David entered the master suite to find Marko sitting on the edge of the mattress, staring at the thirty-five inch screen. A fast tempo piano score played while a woman screamed. "What the hell are you watching?"

" _Halloween_ , you goddamn heathen! _The_ mother of all slasher flicks!" Marko growled in reply, gaze still glued to the screen. Maria had thoughtfully done as he'd requested and brought the VHS home with her from the store.

" _Out_!" David snarled, searching the built-in cabinet's shelves before he found the VCR, stabbing the 'stop' button, and somehow managing to eject the tape. He tossed the VHS at Marko. "Go! Watch it in the living room!"

"What the hell, man?" Marko glowered, catching the tape before it smashed and broke. "This is a rental!"

"We own the goddamn store, Marko!" David's brow grew heavy, his eyes a bloodied golden.

Marko stood up, his own countenance beginning to change. He looked towards the head of the bed, seeing Beth sitting on the edge, not looking at either vampire. "Oh, I get it. You told me it wasn't like _that_!"

" _Get out, Marko_!" David rounded on the younger vampire, pushing him out the open door. Marko swore loudly, his blood hot with anger.

"Oh, _fuck you_ , David!" he yelled as the leader of the Lost Boys slammed the door in his face, locking it.

"You're just a tour de force tonight, David, being a royal dick to everyone." Beth growled, staring at her boots. "Max knew to inspire fear sparingly."

"Marko's _not_ scared of me." David countered as he stalked towards the blonde, his eyes still blood red instead of blue. "And I _like_ the ghouls afraid of me. Fear is a healthy emotion to have when it comes to dealing with vampires."

"What about me? Am _I_ supposed to fear you?" Beth looked up at him, the lower half of her face still stained a rusty crimson. David unconsciously licked his lips, his fingers sliding under her chin, tipping her face up higher. He smiled at her, though it wasn't kindness in his eyes.

"Right now, I'm certain that's not the f-word you're thinking about."

The blonde didn't confirm or deny his statement. She simply lay back across the mattress as David crawled atop her.

***

Beth shifted across the mattress after David had gotten up and disappeared into the master bath. She heard the taps come on in the shower. Pulling one of the pillows down, settling her upper half against it, Beth stretched her arms above her head until her spine popped. Most of her clothes were on the floor, along with David's. She pulled the bandeau back into place from where he had shoved it up, trying to run a hand through her hair though it was thoroughly snarled from David's fingers.

Rubbing a hand over her neck, she felt the last of the wounds close. The expensive European sheets Max had loved were trashed, marked with bloodied hand prints, torn from talons, and stained with other evidence of their coupling. For the moment she didn't care, just retrieved a cigarette from the pack on the nightstand and lit it, trying to come down.

It wasn't romantic, what they did. Beth was sure David didn't even know the definition of romance. If there was love between them it was the twisted, messed up kind that wasn't actual love. They shared a healthy sense of mutual preservation, though it leaned more heavily in David's favor than Beth's.

David tolerated her possessiveness of him. He might be a vampire but he was still a teenage male and of course he enjoyed that kind of attention from an attractive girl. Beth wasn't under the illusion he loved her. There had been a time she had loved him, back when they had first met and Santa Carla was new to them both, but that time had long since passed.

There was no doubt in her mind that David was overtly selfish, fueled by his desire for power, and that he would sacrifice her if he felt like it. Beth had proved herself worthy of keeping around for this long. The fact that she was a vampire, the only _female_ vampire, doubled her worth.

She was possessive of him but David _owned_ her, more literally than figuratively. It hadn't always been that way. She hadn't run away to Santa Carla because she felt worthless; it had been the opposite, in fact. She had known her value and come to stake a claim, strike out on her own instead of staying with her family who had tried to make her feel like a burden to them.

Of course making a go of it alone while still so young had been hard, _too hard_ , and she had fallen into Max's outstretched hand until she had eventually landed under David's thumb. David had returned her worth but only to build up and maintain his own.

David returned from the master bath, padding barefoot across the plush carpet, clad only in his leather pants. He stopped beside the nightstand, taking a cigarette for himself, lighting it while he looked at the pale girl only half covered by the sheet.

"I used to wonder if there'd be a difference after you were turned." David admitted.

"And?"

David shrugged a bare shoulder. "Now I can be rougher without worrying about permanent damage being done."

Beth rolled her eyes as she sat up against the headboard, exhaling smoke. "Pretty sure our relationship is a textbook definition of 'abusive'."

"You didn't say no." David scowled. "You didn't say no _at any point_ , during any of the times we've done it."

"Would you even allow me to?" Beth scowled back. David ignored her and didn't answer. "A smarter woman would have left you by now."

"You _did_ leave. Under ultimatum from Max, yes, but you _left_." David countered. "You returned because you needed to bring me back and participate in revenge."

"I didn't _need_ to. I did it because I knew I could. _You_ needed _me_ , David."

"You keep reminding me." David growled darkly. "Which, if you were smarter, you'd stop doing, Beth."

"Why? Everyone with half a brain knows this is all about you!"

"True." David smirked. "I guess you _are_ smart enough to know that in this world _my_ needs will _always_ trump _yours_."

Beth rolled her eyes and stubbed her cigarette out in the ashtray. "You were kinder, back when this was all new."

"No." David disagreed, brushing some hair out of her face as he sat on the edge of the mattress. "I've _never_ been kind, Beth. You know that. People always confuse kindness and niceness. I _can be_ nice; I _choose_ _not_ to be kind."

"You were kind in the car last night."

David exhaled hard, the smoke clouding around them both. "So I was kind _once_. Don't get used to it."

Beth stared up at the vaulted ceiling, noticing a cobweb that hadn't been caught by the maid swaying gently. "The old you said he always kept his promises."

"Beth, I've made a lot of promises over the years without the intention of keeping them. People like the idea of promises but do they really expect them to be kept? No."

"So, really, you're saying I'm a sucker just like everybody else when it comes to believing you'd keep your word to me."

Leaning over her, David cupped her chin in his hand, forcing her to look him in the eye. "I promised to be your first: I _was_. I promised you the night you became my ghoul I would sleep with you: I _did_. I promised to turn you into a vampire when Max was dead: I _turned_ you. And I promised to fuck you after your first kill, which I've just _done_."

"You're such an asshole, David."

The vampire patted her cheek, smiling sweetly. "You know it but you _love_ it. Now get up, get dressed, and change the sheets. Then go get Marko. We're locking ourselves in for the night."

David moved away from the bed, stepping out onto the patio, leaving Beth alone in the master suite. She watched the cobweb dance in slow motion, moved by an unseen air current, for a long moment.

Finally getting up, Beth collected her clothes and started to dress. She knew David was right; he might be a complete asshole but she still cared for him in a way she knew no one would ever understand. It would never change, especially not now, since they were both immortal.

Stripping the mattress, she bundled the sheets into the hamper in the closet then remade the bed with clean linens she found in the cupboard. David hadn't returned by the time she finished. Unlocking the door, Beth stepped out into the hallway. The faint sounds of the slasher flick greeted her as she headed towards the living room. Marko was sitting on his knees, amongst the teenagers in their sleeping bags, watching a man in a mask chase a woman with a knife.

"C'mon! Get her already!" Marko cried at the screen.

Beth passed through the living room into the kitchen. Charlie, Sophia, and Jake were playing cards at the dining room table. The nodded to the female vampire but didn't speak. Beth assumed she looked preoccupied, her hair tangled and the fact she smelled of David and blood.

Max's wine cooler was one of the additions he'd made to the gourmet kitchen. It was small, like a mini fridge, with racks for wine bottles. Beth pulled one out a time, finally selecting a Cabernet with a fancy looking label. From the stainless steel fridge she took two cans of cheap beer, loading everything in one arm.

"David says to get your butt into the master suite." She informed Marko upon returning to the living room. The movie had ended, the teenagers settling in to sleep. Marko made a face.

"Yeah, like I really want to spend a night in a room with you two, knowing what went down."

"Then you can just tell David you'd rather sleep outside in the yard to watch the sunrise."

"Fine, fine, I'm coming." Marko groused. He got up from the floor, following Beth down the hall. "Hope you two _enjoyed_ yourselves."

"Knock it off, Marko."

"Is it weird being David's whore? I know you only put out once in a blue moon..."

The sound of Beth's palm slapping Marko's cheek was sharp, echoing along the short hallway. " _Stop it_!" She snarled, a deadly look in her eyes. Marko stared at her. "I'm not _anybody's_ whore, Marko. Especially not David's."

Marko's jaw worked as he thought of a reply, the red mark quickly disappearing from his skin. Beth stared at him, daring him to make another smart remark. Finally the curly haired vampire held up both hands in surrender.

"Fine, Beth, sorry. You're just as much a willing participant as he is. I don't understand your dynamic but I guess it works for the both of you."

"Of course it works, Marko. I have my reasons. Whatever David's are, well, you know how he likes to keep his secrets." Beth turned and headed towards the suite, allowing Marko to open the door for her.

David was sitting on the corner of the bed when the two vampires returned. "You brought wine. Good." Beth handed him the bottle before turning back and handing Marko the cans of beer.

"I am sleeping on the loveseat," Marko declared, taking the cans and heading towards the sitting area.

"Whatever. More room for me." David uncorked the bottle and took a long drink of the dark red wine. Beth ignored the both of them and locked herself in the master bath, determined to shower before sleeping.

"You're twisted, you know," Marko complained after a moment. "Using her like that."

"If I were you, I'd keep my opinions to myself." David warned, draining the last of the wine from the bottle. He got up, arranging the black out curtains over the patio doors in a way to make sure the slit cut in the plastic was covered. Marko glared silently, crushing an empty beer can in his fist, before he went to the cupboard and pulled out a blanket.

Beth came out of the bathroom, showered and dressed for sleep. She didn't look at either vampire, just walked round the bed and crawled in on the side Marko had taken the night before. Marko settled himself on the loveseat, rolling to his side so his back was to the bed.

Checking the locks on both sets of doors, David was satisfied they were secure for the night. His lip curled as he looked between Beth and Marko, each turned with their backs to him. David turned out the lights and settled on his side of the bed, closing his eyes.

If they wanted to sulk, so be it. He was still the head vampire.


	20. "what's left of you"

Marko gently steered his bike into a right turn, blowing the stop sign. David followed behind the younger Lost Boy, unfamiliar with where they were headed. It was a decidedly newer residential section of the town, more inland and less pricey. Of course Max would have seen the purchase or two of a home here as an investment. The former head vampire had amassed a nice portfolio of rental properties in Santa Carla during his tenure.

David drove up the small patch of grass that was considered the side yard, tailing Marko as they rode their bikes into the backyard of a one-story ranch-style home. After cutting the engine and dismounting, Marko walked back to shut the wooden gate, concealing their bikes.

Staying astride his, though turning off the engine, David surveyed the small back yard. It was nothing special; no pool, only some yellowing grass and a few bits of ornamental shrubbery.

"Needs a landscaper."

"I don't think Max had time to hire one. This was one of his last purchases." Marko shrugged, flipping through some keys on a ring. Selecting one, he walked to a side-door set at the back of the garage and unlocked it. David climbed off his bike and followed him inside.

The sedan Maria had driven to the Emerson's home was parked inside the garage, the plates removed, waiting for disposal. Marko brushed past it, unlocking the door that led inside the home with another key.

Inside the living space, David was greeted by a foul smell. "Did someone not take out the trash?"

"I think that's Dwayne." Marko's nose wrinkled.

David made a face. "That's just disgusting! I'm shocked there's not a cloud of flies buzzing around in here. We need to dump the remains!"

Marko growled. "They were our best friends!"

"Well, they're _dead_ now, Marko! And one of them is rotting hardcore. It's making my eyes water!"

"Beth... she said she couldn't bring them back." Marko stared down a hallway that ran beyond the empty living room, twisting one of the silver eye rings around his finger. "She said we should decide what to do with the remains."

"Toss them outside in the backyard, away from the house. The sun will take care of it in the morning. The bags will go up in flames and that'll be the end of it."

"Damn, dude, _are you serious_?" Marko's face was incredulous at David's callousness.

"Yes. They're _dead_. We're not keeping chunks of Dwayne around out of sentimentality." David growled. "Those leftovers are a liability. This house reeks! A smell like that draws suspicion!"

"I thought we could bury them in the cave..."

"Do whatever the hell you want." David brushed past the younger Boy, heading to the kitchen and the room that lay beyond it. "It isn't going to matter to Paul and Dwayne at this point."

***

Beth opened the door and slipped into the private hospital room. It was dimly lit, with beeping monitors and other equipment ringed around the bed. Lucy's father lay still and frail looking, clad in a hospital gown and covered by a thick white hospital blanket. A part of his head was covered by a bandage, there were healing scrapes and road rash on his hands and arms, and there was an oxygen mask covering his nose and mouth.

Creeping towards the bed in total silence, Beth studied the old man. She picked up the chart from the end of the bed, flipping through the pages, reading the diagnosis and progress reports.

"Lucy?"

The vampire froze. The old man's voice was weak, barely a whisper through the oxygen mask. He had looked asleep. Lowering the chart, Beth looked at the old man's face.

" _Lucy_?" He repeated, weakly trying to displace the oxygen mask, unsure he was being heard. Beth put the chart down on the end of the bed before moving towards the head of the bed, reaching over and gently removing the mask.

"Yes, Dad." She lied, trying to look kindly and concerned, using her powers to help the old man's mind believe she was his dead daughter.

"Oh, Lucy." The old man squeezed his eyes shut against the gathering tears. "The vampires! I tried to tell them nurses but they wouldn't listen. Michael! You need to warn Michael, and Star!"

"It's okay." Beth took his outstretched hand in hers, patting the fragile flesh, squeezing it gently in reassurance. "Michael and Star are okay."

"Are they?"

"Yes, they're in a safe place." Beth nodded slowly. "Why do you think it was vampires?"

Grandpa sighed. "There's _always_ vampires in Santa Carla, Lucy. Always will be. One generation gets killed, along comes another."

Beth raised an eyebrow at this. Maybe there had been something to what Edgar had told them about the old man? She tried a different tactic. "Now, Dad..."

"No, Lucy, listen to me." The old man's grip tightened on her hands like steel, his eyes clear and focused. "Max..."

"Max is dead, Dad. We all saw it happen."

"Yes, Max is dead but he was a vampire. He made them boys into vampires, the ones Sam and Michael told us about. The bodies we buried in the pasture. I should have burned them."

Beth frowned. "They're buried, deep in the ground. They can't hurt us now."

"No. Not them. The others! There are _always_ others. They'll come looking. _Vampires always want revenge_!" The machines started to beep louder, the old man's blood pressure and heart rate rising from his agitation.

Beth put the oxygen mask back on his face. He struggled a bit but eventually gave up, taking deep breaths as Beth patted his hand. "There, that's it, slow deep breaths. There's no need to get excited, everybody's okay."

Grandpa shook his head in disagreement. His fingers fumbled to pull the mask away. "They took those Frog boys. Sam and I knew it was them behind it, those Frogs wouldn't just disappear."

"Dad, you did what you could. You put up the missing flyers." Beth ventured, playing on a hunch.

"Sam... those were Sam's idea. I just gave him the money." Grandpa looked... Beth wasn't sure. Shamed? Fearful? Regretful? "Where's Sam?"

"He's with Michael, safe."

"The crash... Laddie?"

Beth tucked the blanket in around the old man, trying to look as though she were concerned and fussing over him. It was difficult, even if the old man had done her family a favor by killing Max. "Everyone's safe." She lied in a reassuring tone.

"Leave. Get out of Santa Carla!" Grandpa coughed, wheezing for air. "They'll keep coming for revenge. Forget me, I'm old and too weak to fight anymore. _Save yourselves_!"

"Now, Dad, we're not going to leave you behind." Beth chided softly, slipping the oxygen mask back onto his face, letting go of his hand, tucking it under the blanket. "Stop that nonsense."

Grandpa was quiet, breathing in the oxygen, worn out. Beth watched him for a moment before stepping away from the bed, to a metal cabinet. She quietly rifled through the drawers, searching. It took her a few minutes but she found what she was looking for.

Slipping the packet into her jacket pocket, Beth wiped the drawers of her fingerprints before turning back to the old man in the hospital bed. His eyes were closed; he was resting, breathing in the much-needed oxygen.

She knew she should do it, get it over with before a nurse or a doctor came in and found her in Grandpa's room, but her curiosity was piqued. Pulling the chair left for visitors over to the side of the bed, Beth sat down, taking the old man's hand in hers once more.

"Dad, why do vampires live by the ocean?"


	21. "facing a truth that won't die"

David surveyed the assortment of locks on the wooden door. There were hinges with padlocks, a couple of deadbolts, and a regular door handle with a keyhole.

"You're afraid he's going to get out?" He raised a brow as Marko came up the hallway.

"No, more afraid of who might get in." Marko grunted, searching through the key ring once more. David noted there were five keys the younger Lost Boy used to undo the padlocks and deadbolts.

"There's no one left to rescue him."

"Now, no, but before you got back..." Marko shrugged. "Besides, when there were two of them, they were scheming little buggers. Couldn't take a chance."

David nodded, not particularly convinced the Frog brothers could have escaped, but they had managed to find the vampires' day time hiding place and stake Marko, so there was a chance. Marko inserted a sixth key into the last lock, twisting the knob and opening the door.

The smell of filthy, unwashed skin and human waste hit the vampires like a brick wall. The room was humid, thick with the fetid smell, since there was no air conditioning or even a ceiling fan to create a breeze.

"I guess those little pine tree things for cars aren't strong enough to tackle this." Marko muttered, entering first. David wrinkled his nose, bracing himself as he followed behind.

The room was empty except for a metal twin-sized bed. No other furniture, no lamp. The window had been boarded over in a way that allowed light in but no one on the outside could see the human locked inside. Marko reached over and flipped a switch next to the door, turning on the bare overhead bulbs screwed into the half dismantled light fixture.

"Stop." Marko extended an arm in front of David, blocking the other vampire's path. David raised a brow, turning his head to look at Marko, when he heard the metallic rattle of chains. Suddenly there was a blur of movement in front of him, a pair of filthy hands trying to claw at his eyes.

"Which is this one, again?" David asked, watching as the younger teenager fought against the chains that bound his wrists together, a thick leather strap cinched round his waist, the chain attached to the back of it bolted to the floor next to the side of the bed.

"Edgar." Marko replied.

"On a short leash, are we, Edgar?" David smirked, his face bright with malicious glee as Edgar stopped suddenly, looking at the pale-faced Boy.

"Y-you... _you were dead_!" He stammered, his voice momentarily losing its forced guttural growl and revealing the youth's natural tone. "I saw you! _We saw you_ , dead on the workbench!"

"Yeah, I remember." David growled. "You put down two of my friends but I guess your extensive vampire knowledge ran out when it came to making sure I _stayed_ dead."

Edgar stared in disbelief at the walking, talking David. He looked at Marko. "First Hell spit _you_ out, now _him_?"

" _'Hell is empty and all the devils are here._ '"

"What?"

David sighed, toeing a stack of comic books against a wall, the pile out of Edgar's reach. "I forgot, you and your brother only read these, not actual literature of value."

Shaking his head, Edgar retreated, sitting on the edge of the thin mat that covered the metal frame of the twin bed. "How? How is this even possible?"

"Doesn't matter." David snapped, turning around to look at the Frog. He could see the missing toes, the broken and miss-healed fingers, the healing burn marks on the teenager's torso. Edgar's hair was long, shaggy enough to cover his eyes. He was unwashed, his clothes practically rags that hung off his much-thinner frame. "I hear your brother didn't last long."

"Don't you talk about Alan, _blood sucker_!" Edgar growled, the forced baritone voice back.

David shrugged, looking down at what was a line of masking tape that ran across the bare flooring. Clearly it marked the radius of Edgar's reach. Walking along it, David slowly paced in front of the younger teenager.

"They're all dead." He smiled, almost beaming as he remembered Michael's body hitting the bottom of the dirt hole, the smoking crater the gunshot left in Star's skull.

"Yeah, I know Twisted Sister and Death By Stereo are dead, man. We annihilated their night stalking asses."

"No." David's smile remained as his face morphed into the demonic-like visage, revealing the beast that was barely held in check. "Sam... Michael... Star... _All dead_."

Edgar shook his head, frowning. "No. Not possible."

"Still held out hope Sam would rescue you? That he and his grandfather would put the pieces together, burst through that door, save your pathetic skin? _Not happening_. I put Michael down like the dog he was, right into the ground. Star, that pathetic traitor, joined him."

"No..."

"Sam and his mommy bit it in a tragic car accident." Marko added, grinning wickedly as he smashed his fist into his open palm. "Never knew what hit 'em."

"No!"

"The damn grandfather survived... barely. But," David paused for dramatic effect. "He won't be around much longer."

" _No_!" Edgar howled angrily, jumping up and rushing at David again, stopped short by the chains once more. He fell backwards, landing hard on the bare floor, yelping in pain. David looked down at his crumpled form.

"You'll be joining them soon enough, Edgar. I'm sure they'll all be so happy to see you!"

***

"The tides..." Beth looked up as the old man spoke. Grandpa had drifted off shortly after her question, leading her to believe time would run out before she got an answer. She leaned over the bed railing, tugging down the oxygen mask to give the appearance that she couldn't hear him.

"What, Dad?"

"Blood suckers are governed by the moon." Grandpa labored to speak. "The moon's gravity creates the ocean tides. The sun, too, but not as strong."

Beth tipped her head, the knowledge taking shape in her mind. "The different phases of the moon, the stronger or weaker the tide."

The old man nodded slowly. "Vampires are stronger during the waxing and full moon, not so much during the waning and new."

"Like werewolves?"

Grandpa shook his head slowly. "Werewolves only fall under the full moon's power. The other phases still affect them, but not as strongly as vampires."

"But that doesn't answer my question." Beth frowned. "Why was a nest of them living by the sea?"

The old man held the oxygen mask to his nose, drawing in several deep breaths, weary. His body ached all over. Where was the nurse with more pain medication? "Santa Carla is a beautiful town, where the land meets the water. Humans always crowd into naturally beautiful places, settle and multiply. Why _wouldn't_ vampires want to live here?"

"I see your point." Beth frowned softly. It was so stupidly simple a reason but it made sense.

"The Boardwalk draws crowds, locals and tourists. It's always been full of humans wandering about, looking for a thrill, even back when it was just a strip of sand. People have always gone missing in Santa Carla. It's a fact of life."

"The Boardwalk wasn't always open at night. Not like now." Beth countered.

"No. The baths, the casino, the other entertainments that came before the pleasure pier, all that burned in mid-aught-six. The earthquake that decimated San Francisco a few months before sent the vampires into a panic. Fire is one thing that never fails to scare vamps."

Beth frowned. That was true. "They came to Santa Carla then?"

"Eventually. It was easy to pick off victims, since so many people died in the 'Frisco quake, no one could really be sure how many went missing. But the fear of fire, having seen what happened in the city, that made them head for Santa Carla."

"How could they escape? The earthquake happened early in the morning with the fires starting shortly after. They would have been trapped in the ruins."

Grandpa slowly shook his head. "Vampires weren't always weakened by the sunlight. Later generations, the ones the old vamps turned through the years, they became weaker and vulnerable to sunlight. The last few generations, those ones sleep during the day because they burn to a crisp if the sun hits 'em. But the old ones... they could go out. That's what made them so deadly. They could blend in, never needed to sleep, could stalk the city day _and_ night."

"What?" Beth blinked. "Vampires used to walk in the sun?"

"Old ones. Ones that were closer to the first, like Max." Grandpa's eyes rolled round to look at her. "But not young ones, _like you_."

He moved fast for being injured in the car accident, a testament to his training. His hand came out from under the blanket, his reflexes just a fraction too slow. Beth snarled, the wooden pencil sinking into the space just below her left clavicle. She'd shifted position just quick enough for the old man to miss her heart.

" _Bastard_." She hissed, a hand reaching up to touch the end of the pencil that stuck out of her flesh.

"I knew you was one of them." Grandpa gasped, struggling to put the oxygen mask back over his mouth. Ignoring her injury, Beth grabbed the mask and tugged it hard, snapping the elastic band. The old man moaned, watching the female vampire drop it on the floor.

"You expect me to believe you're _that good_ a hunter?"

"Nope. But I know my daughter and grandson are dead, Laddie, too. Saw their lifeless bodies with my own eyes before they brought me here." Grandpa pressed back against the pillows as the vampire leaned in. He no longer saw Lucy, now that the mental influence Beth had used was broken. "I suppose you've killed Michael? Star, too?"

"They'll be there to greet you, sure."

The old man sniffled, the unbidden tears collecting in his eyes. "You. You weren't there that night. But I've seen you before. You were casing out my home for the last couple of weeks."

"Should have stopped me then."

"It was daylight. You weren't vampire then." Grandpa shook his head. "Someone survived. Turned you."

"In a roundabout way, yes." Beth confirmed, letting her features shift into her vampiric form. "Max used to tell us stories about vampire hunters, to scare us. Your name was known to us all, like some sort of boogeyman. But I don't think he ever suspected you had retired and settled in Santa Carla right under his nose."

"I was too old to fight like I used to. I just wanted to live out my days in peace and quiet." The old man closed his eyes. "Didn't think my grandson would fall in love with a half-vamp."

"Michael didn't have much sense, or good taste, for that matter." Beth sniffed.

"I did what I could, to protect my family at the end."

"You helped killed Max. You did us a favor. David sends his regards."

Grandpa snorted. "Boy on the workbench?" Beth nodded. "Watch him. He's gettin' too big for them leather britches."

"Don't I know it." Beth laughed mirthlessly. "You fought well, old man, but you just couldn't stop the revenge."

"No, I couldn't, and it got my whole family killed."

The blonde vampire shrugged. "And now you can have your everlasting peace and quiet." Removing the plastic and paper packet from her pocket, Beth tore it open. Pulling the plunger back on the oversized syringe, she filled the plastic barrel with air instead of liquid.

"Make it quick." The old man settled back into the hospital bed and closed his eyes. The last of his strength spent, he prepared for death.

Sticking the needle into the IV tubing, Beth pushed down the plunger, sending air directly into the old man's veins. Within seconds the monitors' alarms were screeching, the room filled with a cacophony of noise as the embolism passed into his heart, causing cardiac arrest.

Although he contorted in pain, Grandpa never once cried out. His hand clutched his chest over his heart, teeth gritted against the increasing agony. Beth reached over him, turning off the monitors, pulling the sticky electrodes from his skin, silencing the alarms.

Beth stayed, watching until his face went slack and his body relaxed, his skin still ash grey under the dim lights of the room. She stayed until she was sure Grandpa was dead, no hint of life left in his old body. It was a courtesy as much as it was a necessity.

No one came to his aid. She had successfully hidden his demise, through ordinary and supernatural means. Beth threw the syringe into the bin, wiped her fingerprints away as best she could. Not that it would matter. According to his chart, none of the doctors expected the old man to survive that long anyway.

Standing beside the bed, Beth looked at the dead body in front of her as she yanked the wooden pencil out. There was a hole in her leather jacket now, as well as the t-shirt below. Reminders of the old man's last attempt to put down the vampire menace that plagued Santa Carla.

Stuffing the still bloodied pencil into her jacket pocket, Beth turned away and exited the room.


	22. "echoing words of denial"

David stepped out into the hallway, lighting a cigarette in an attempt to escape the smell. The burning tobacco didn't much mask the putrid scent of Edgar's foul stench, but the nicotine helped.

"What are we gonna do with him?" Marko closed the door, speaking in a hushed tone.

"Besides kill him?" David exhaled a steady stream of smoke. "I don't see much value to him, now that the rest are dead."

All the Emersons were dead, Laddie and Star, too. Beth was supposed to be taking care of the grandfather; she had taken off for the hospital when he and Marko had left for this rental house. Edgar was it. Once he was gone, David was scot-free to take over Santa Carla.

"What, you want to keep him around to torture him?" David raised a brow. Marko had a decided sadistic streak that people missed on first glance of that baby face of his. The fact Edgar was missing toes, most of both pinkies gone, and the rest of his fingers were mangled did not escape David's notice.

"It's kind of fun?" Marko shrugged.

"You said Alan didn't last long."

"Nah. His heart gave out a few days after we bagged them."

David raised a brow. "How has Edgar survived this long?"

"Will power? Hope? Maybe out of sheer spite?" The younger Boy shrugged again. Something felt off. David could feel Marko was evading giving him a truthful answer.

Grinding the cigarette out under his boot heel, David strode purposefully into the makeshift cell. Edgar was sitting on the metal twin bed, glaring angrily through his shaggy bangs.

"Come to finally finish me off, _night stalker_?"

David ignored the teenager's smart remark and walked right past the line of tape on the floor. Edgar looked startled as the vampire drew nearer.

"Hey, man, wait up!" Marko called, hurrying after David. He was too late. David pushed Edgar down onto the thin mattress, his hand pressed hard against the teen's chest, pinning him while he searched.

"Get off me, _el vampiro_!" Edgar screamed, trying to push David's hand off his chest. His strength was no match for the Lost Boy's. David pushed aside the rags that had once been Edgar's t-shirt. He could see healed burns, from cigarettes and probably a lighter, along with white scar tissue from knife blades. The largest piece of visible damage to the teenager's body was the fact his right nipple was missing, sheared off, leaving puckered pink skin that stood out against Edgar's natural skin tone.

David whirled around, releasing Edgar and advancing on Marko. His eyes were growing yellow, the red seeping in to the turn the natural blue violet. " _What did you do_!"

"Uh..." Marko backed up, his gaze locked with David's, reaching for the switchblade in his back pocket. "Well, uh... Alan didn't last long, and we needed all the info we could get, so it was just a good idea to..."

David's hand around his throat silenced the rest of Marko's explanation. The head vampire began to squeeze, choking the younger Boy as he pushed him hard against the wall. Marko's eyes began to bulge, his fingers scrabbling to pry David's loose. David growled and squeezed harder, his eyes burning red under the heavy brow, talons digging into Marko's pale flesh.

"Whose blood did you give him! Max's?" David roared. " _Yours_?"

"Hey, man, I didn't drink any vampire blood!" Edgar yelled. David ignored him.

Marko gurgled, unable to answer David. The head vampire snarled and squeezed the younger vampire's throat with violent intensity before releasing his grip. Marko collapsed to the filthy carpet.

"I can't believe Beth agreed to doing this. I can't believe _either of you_ would be so damn stupid to turn this idiot into a _half-vampire_!"

"I ain't no half-vamp, man!" Edgar growled. He fell back against the mattress as the Lost Boy loomed over him, his eyes wild with fright.

"Yes. You. _Are_!" David shouted, as he began to poke Edgar hard in the chest and upper arms before he started to slap his face. Edgar tried weakly to fend off the attack, raising his chained wrists, trying to use the chain to block David. David roared and punched the teenager in the nose. A sickening cracking sound was followed by the scent of blood in the air.

Leaning back, David looked down at Edgar, whose countenance had changed. The heavy brow, the golden eyes tinted red, the double fangs in his open mouth. Edgar slowly licked at the blood that seeped out his broken nose, pooled along his upper lip, looking up at David with violence in his eyes.

" _God damn it, Marko_!"

***

The door to the master suite banged open. " _What the hell, Beth_!" David yelled as he entered the room. The blonde looked up from the large leather-bound book in her hands.

"What? What happened now, David?"

The vampire gestured towards Marko, who was slowly slinking into the room after David, then back at the female vampire. His mouth opened and closed several times but the words wouldn't form fast enough to be spoken. "How... _How could you_!"

"You know, this conversation would go more smoothly if I had any inkling of what you're accusing me of."

David snarled, eyes tinting red. "You turned that goddamn teenager into a half-vampire!"

" _What_!" Beth stood up from the loveseat, dropping the book on the cushion. She was across the room and up in Marko's face in a blink. "You tried _to turn_ the surviving Frog?"

Marko growled, his features transforming as he tried to defend himself. "He wouldn't have lasted if I hadn't! We needed him to talk!"

"You could have eased up on the torture! Didja think of that, Marko?"

"It wouldn't have continued to be as much fun as it was, if I had!" The younger Boy complained.

David stared at the other two vampires, processing this revelation. "You didn't know, Beth?"

"Of course I didn't fucking know, David!" The blonde rounded on the head vampire, glaring darkly. "I wouldn't have ever agreed to that! If he'd gotten loose, it would have been disastrous for us. _I can't believe you_ , Marko!"

"Hey! I was getting all the intel we needed to bring David back! I was doing all the work-" Marko's head snapped back as Beth's fist connected with his face.

"I forgot you had such a mean right hook." David mused, his countenance still heavy with anger, tinged with a tiny bit of amusement. Beth's bruised knuckles healed instantaneously. Marko snarled, holding a hand over his right eye. He glared from the left one, at both David and Beth, before he turned and rushed out of the master suite.

Beth shook her head. "I left him alone with Edgar, to do whatever he wanted to the kid. He had such a rough time coming back. It was like the revenge was giving him a renewed sense of purpose, since he was the only survivor."

"How rough was it, bringing him back?"

Beth looked at David before shaking her head. "Freezing him, while a smart idea, probably damaged him. It took a couple of days, the process. Letting him thaw while trying to revive him with Max's blood, it wasn't working initially. I couldn't put a needle into a vein and infuse him, so I had to paint it on his skin, let it dribble down his frozen throat."

David frowned. "A lot harder than raising me."

"You were basically a piece of cake, since I could use my own living blood and knew you would respond because of the bond. I don't have that connection to Marko. If you'd been brought back first, I could have used your blood bond to him, but we still didn't know what they'd done with your body."

"Marko was the obvious first choice."

"Only because if I'd waited any longer it would have failed." Beth sighed. "Bottled blood is only half as potent and grows weaker over time. Maria brought me the most recent bottles Max had filled but I made a hell of a dent in the stockpile, bringing Marko back."

"Doesn't matter. I'm head vampire now."

Beth shook her head and sighed. "Sure, whatever, David, but you're not as old as Max was. Your blood needs time, _decades_ if not _centuries_ , to become as powerful as what flowed in Max's veins. Yes, he made you a vampire, but blood magic-"

"You're getting into concept and theory territory, Beth." David interrupted.

"Fine, don't listen, don't learn." Beth snorted, picking up the leather-bound book and settling back on the couch to continue reading. David glanced at the gold embossed title on the front cover.

"' _Collected manuscripts of Alwardt's vampiric codex_ '. That's what you read for pleasure?"

Beth didn't look up from the book. "Someone has to know all this stuff to keep us safe, to know how we tick. It's one of the books Marko took from Michael's grandfather's collection."

"Is the old codger dead?" David sat down in the recliner, lighting a cigarette.

"Yes. He took a parting shot at me but accepted defeat with dignity."

David raised a brow. "He figured out you were a vampire?"

"I made an error. He knew Lucy was dead." Beth shrugged, turning the thick, hand-made paper page. "He really was one of the last legendary hunters."

"Good riddance."

Beth peered over the top of the book at David. "I know you think eliminating all your known enemies as fast as possible is a smart battle strategy, but that just opens up space for those we don't know about, can't predict."

"What's to predict? We're the only vampires in this town. I rule Santa Carla, and I've made that very clear." Beth shook her head and returned to the book. David glared in her direction, angered by her lack of confident affirmation. "What, you think I can't hold Santa Carla?"

"You're a resurrected vampire. Your second is a former ghoul-vampire hybrid who you turned barely three nights ago. And the only other vampire is also resurrected and very likely brain damaged in some fashion. You have four ghouls whose blood oaths were not sworn to you. Not to mention a network of human teenagers that's been halved because you wanted to _show them who's boss_."

"If you're questioning my leadership..."

"What? What are you going to do to _me_ , David?" Beth lowered the book to her lap. " _Kill me_? Right now I'm the only one who's backing your claim. You've alienated Marko for a mistake he made. Yeah, it's a pretty big mistake but he made it because he was anchorless without you around. He doesn't listen to me. He only, _truly_ , listens to _you_."

David frowned in thought. "Because I'm the leader of the Lost Boys."

"There isn't... _the Lost Boys are gone_ , David! They died when you _all_ died!" Beth yelled, exasperated. "You want to be head vampire, _fine_! You're the eldest; it's your right. But if you're going to keep being violent and make ridiculously over-bold 'statements' to prove your claim, this family is going to crumble!"

"I'm not being 'over-bold'!"

"Did you lose all your finesse in death? You used to be a lot better at subtlety. You nearly out-gamed Max with a double cross. Now it's all cock of the walk, pound people over the head, excessive force crap. If you just eased up a bit, loosened your grip..."

David snarled, a violent noise that silenced the blonde vampire. Fixing her with a dirty look as he rose from the recliner, David left her alone in the master suite. He didn't want to hear a list of his faults and failures. What did Beth know about him, anyway?


	23. "only needing one more victim"

The multiple locks snapped, the hinges busting apart, as the wooden door was kicked in. Edgar, huddled on the thin mattress, blinked against the bright light as the bulbs overhead lit up the dark cell.

"Hey man, _what the hell_?"

David swept into the room, walking over the remains of the door. " _You_. You got _lucky_ and killed my friends. Killed Max, _destroyed_ our perfect family. But you're no true vampire hunter."

Edgar sat up, backing against the wall, as the angry vampire advanced towards him. "I am too a vampire hunter! Multiple confirmed kills, man! We had witnesses!"

Revealing the wine bottle he'd carried into the room hidden behind his back, David shook his head slowly. "Vampire hunters don't let themselves get caught; they _always_ self-sacrifice at the immediate sign of defeat. Every _true_ hunter knows that, because their worst fear is being turned, enslaved by the vampires they seek to destroy."

Edgar held up his hands, still chained together by his wrists. "The little one tricked me! I didn't know he gave me blood to drink! It's not my fault!"

David laughed sardonically. "It's _never_ your fault, is it, Edgar?" His arm shot out, his hand gripping tightly around the teenager's throat, pushing him hard against the wall. Edgar tried to push away David's arm but was hindered by the chains. His eyes rolled wildly in their sockets, looking around desperately for some means of escape, as the vampire knelt on the edge of the metal bed frame. David lifted the wine bottle, some of the liquid splashing onto Edgar's face.

" _Say goodnight, Frog_."

***

Beth rushed into the safe house, gagging as the putrid smells hit her like a brick wall. It momentarily stopped her in her tracks until she shifted, the vampire side better able to tolerate the scent of decaying flesh.

"David!" She yelled, running through the living room. Marko was hot on her heels, following the blonde to the room where they kept Edgar. There was no answer even though both of them knew David was there. As they neared the room, the scent of old blood layered atop the disgusting smell of unwashed human.

Marko pushed past Beth, stomping hastily over the broken remains of the door. " _Holy shit_!"

David was sitting on the edge of the twin bed, next to Edgar's corpse. The teen's body was still sitting up against the wall but was starting to sag under its own weight. Edgar's eyes stared glassily at the ceiling; his hands limp in his lap, still manacled together by the chains.

If it wasn't for the dark green glass wine bottle crammed into his mouth, his jaw dislocated grotesquely to allow it, nothing in the tableau would have appeared out of the ordinary.

"What did you _do_?!" Beth cried, trying to process the scene before her. Marko, too, was staring in bewilderment.

"I tied up the last loose end." David replied coolly, lighting himself a cigarette.

" _You shoved the neck of the bottle down his throat_!" Beth exploded.

David shrugged. "He was still half-human. Suffocation was a viable option."

Looking at Edgar's corpse, Beth could see the excess blood that had poured out of Edgar's mouth. He'd been unable to swallow the entire contents of the wine bottle, much like some frat boy unprepared to chug a beer during Spring Break. The blood that had run down his front had soaked into the raggedy remains of his Army surplus t-shirt, was still wet on his filthy skin. Beth realized Edgar's hands were also covered in blood, where he'd tried to fight off David, clawing at the vampire's hand.

" _Holy shit_." Marko repeated. David glared at the younger Boy.

"How! How the hell am I supposed to clean this mess up?!" Beth gestured at the corpse, the blood that had flowed down the teen's body onto the thin mattress. It was dripping down onto the worn floorboards, forming a dark brown pool under the bed.

"Just burn the house down." David suggested wryly.

"Are you... did you... _have you gone completely mad_?!"

David frowned darkly. "I'm serious."

"Dude." Marko shook his head slowly.

"What?"

"That'd be one too many suspicious fires. The Frog's comic shop, the grandfather's house, now a tract house in a new subdivision? I'm pretty sure that would draw some attention from the federal authorities."

"We control the cops."

Beth growled. "Yeah, the _local_ cops. But a second house fire on the heels of the one I just totally spent hours on covering up? No. That doesn't go unnoticed by the locals, David! They'll demand an investigation and we don't have solid blackmail on anyone in the fire department!"

Plucking the wine bottle from Edgar's throat, David threw it across the room, just missing Beth's head. It shattered on impact. The vampire snarled angrily, his face now inches from the blonde's. " _Just fucking_ _deal with it_! I don't care how, clean it up!"

Silence filled the room as the two vampires stared daggers at each other. Only a soft gurgling sound drew their attention, broke the standoff. David turned round and stared at Edgar's corpse. All three vampires could see the throat muscles working, the body twitching...

" _Holy shit_!" Marko swore for the third time.

"That's not possible!" David cried.

Pushing past David, Beth grabbed Edgar's head and twisted it sharply while pulling up. There was a muffled snap before the body sagged, the hyperphysical regeneration ceased.

"Are you going to bitch ever again about me reading?" Beth asked David as she wiped her hands on the unstained part of the thin mattress. Her eyes were dark red, her features still shifted, as she could not have snapped the teenager's neck so easily without vampiric strength.

"No." David answered wisely.


	24. "try to understand me, little girl"

A security light switched on, illuminating the poorly landscaped yard as David stepped through the patio door and outside. The dry grass crunched under his boots as he lit a cigarette. Tipping his head back to face the sky, the vampire went still. The security light, no longer sensing movement, switched off, plunging David into darkness.

The housing development was far enough away from the downtown core that the streetlights didn't cause interference. He could see hundreds of stars, probably thousands, all tiny pinpoints of brightness in the velvety black sky.

How different it was from the darkness he had awakened to after dying.

He had no regrets in killing the Frog. Marko had screwed up big time in secretly giving Edgar Max's blood to drink and turning him half, just to make sure the teenager healed quickly like any vampire would. It made sense that Edgar never suspected it. The loss of his brother, parents, and friends coupled with the continual pain of torture... It was enough to distract anyone, that deep kind of grief and misery. Edgar would have lost track of time, locked in a room, awakened only when Marko arrived for another round of abuse. He wouldn't have realized he was spending his days asleep, just like Star and Laddie had, weakened by the sun.

David took a long drag from the cigarette, holding the smoke deep down in his lungs, before exhaling it slowly. Even from this far inland he could still hear the roll of the waves, their rhythmic pattern, as water met land. He could feel it in his veins, much like a replacement for the heartbeat he had lost.

He had never taken death seriously, not before his own untimely demise. The folly of youth, certainly, but the immortal gift Max had bestowed upon David and the other Boys had erased any worry he might have ever had. Max was proof of a vampire's adaptability; the will to survive whatever human civilization threw at you. There were no threats too great, no problem money couldn't solve.

Until you fell in love with an attractive divorcee whose father was a legendary vampire hunter and who was also mother to two teenage sons who didn't want to go along with your plan of becoming the blood-sucking Brady bunch.

David snorted softly, trying to imagine the version of Max's absurd fantasy that had a positive outcome. There was no way in hell David would ever have accepted Michael as a brother, let alone a Lost Boy. The welcome the Boys had given him had been a sham, the whole initiation a joke. Michael was a loser from minute one. No wonder Star had fallen for him. She always had a thing for _losers_.

He tried to imagine Sam as a vampire. The only positive thing that could have come from _that_ was Max would finally have someone to share fashion tips with, a junior doppelganger who had equally awful taste in clothing. David shuddered, remembering the time Max had offered to take him clothes shopping. He had politely, but _firmly_ , declined.

There was a rustle of plastic just before the security light switched on again. David blinked against the brightness. Marko was dragging one of the black trash bags into the yard.

"What are you doing?"

"Don't worry, it's Paul, not Dwayne." Marko answered, kneeling in the dry grass as he undid the knot. Soon he was fishing one hand around in the bag. David tipped his head, curious.

"Ow. Damn it." Marko muttered, wincing before picking up another bone. "Ow, _damn it_!"

"What the hell are you doing, Marko?" David walked over, standing on the opposite side of the trash bag.

"Ow, son of a bitch!" Marko snapped, removing his hand from the bag, shaking his smarting fingers. "I thought I'd fish out Paul's middle finger bones. Keep them as a good luck charm or somethin'.

"His bones have been soaked in holy water, you idiot!" David snorted. "You keep touching them, they're gonna melt your fingertips to the bone and that's going to hurt something awful."

"Oh. Right." Marko frowned. He was suddenly glad he hadn't stuck his fingertips in his mouth. Holy water burns on a tongue would be gnarly.

David remembered what Beth had said, about Marko listening _only_ to him, how they had fought earlier. "Get a rubber glove or newspaper, something to protect your hand. Then stick 'em in a glass jar."

"I guess that's as good an idea as any," Marko sighed. He'd seriously considered making an earring out of one of the bones but knowing now it would probably burn his earlobe off gave him serious second thoughts. "Thanks, man."

The head vampire only nodded as the younger Boy went back in the house to search for the necessary tools. David stayed in the yard, the security light switching off yet again, leaving him in the dark, alone with his thoughts.

He was thinking again about the unending void when the patio door slid open. Beth stepped out, walking close to the house, until she found the water spigot and garden hose. The security light illuminated the yard once more, though Beth was out of its direct light. David watched her over his shoulder as she turned on the spigot and grabbed the end of the hose to make sure the water was flowing.

Satisfied, Beth stripped off her tank top and jeans, hosing the gore off best she could. David turned slowly around to watch as his second stood naked and barefoot, washing the bloody mess from her skin. She was half in shadow, her back to him, but he watched anyway.

"Do you always bathe with a garden hose under the moonlight?"

Beth went still, the water still gushing out of the garden hose. Glancing back over her shoulder, she gave David a pointed look.

"Resuming your voyeuristic tendencies?"

David shrugged. "You're the one who walked in the backyard and stripped her clothes off, knowing I was out here."

"Because Marko's hunting the house for supplies for some satanic craft project, the plumbing in the house isn't up to snuff, and all I have to fend off out here is color commentary from you. _You_ I can handle."

"You _sure_ of that?"

Beth snorted, fully turning around to face David, naked as a jaybird. She kept washing, rubbing at stubborn spots of blood, the ice-cold water raising her flesh into goose bumps. David stared, sucking hard on his cigarette, eyes narrowing.

"I thought we just had a hands on lesson in how torture is bad."

The blonde laughed softly. "You're tortured by _this_? I thought you were _beyond_ sexual urges, that they didn't interest you as much as killing."

David growled, knowing she was throwing his words back in his face. He'd said that because it was true; sex was fine but nothing compared to snuffing out a life, hot blood pouring down your throat, the endorphin rush murder gave you. "It _doesn't_ compare."

"Yet you sure had your way with me last night."

"I already stated that was the fulfillment of a promise. It meant _nothing_ to me."

Beth nodded slowly, her face expressionless as she turned off the water and gathered her wet clothes. "It _never_ has."

"And it _never_ will."

The blonde vampire wrung out the tank top and jeans best she could before tugging them on, the fabric and denim still quite wet. "Then seeing me naked, washing the gore off from dismantling the body of _your_ victim, _shouldn't_ ignite any _male urges_ in _you_."

David pursed his lips, unable to think up a witty retort. Beth shook her head and went back inside. He stared at the patio door, until the security light switched off and left him cloaked in the darkness.

***

Everyone ignored David's sullen silence as they sat around the dining room table, eating a very late meal of leftover Chinese takeout. The ghouls had stayed up, waiting for the vampires to return to Max's house. Sophia and Charlie had seemed the most shocked by Edgar's untimely demise, but Maria was pleased.

"One less thing to worry about!" She'd chirped cheerfully at David. "We can probably clean up the house and rent it out next month!"

Jake had found an empty but clean peanut butter jar for Marko. It sat on the dining room table, holding an assortment of bones. Marko hadn't been exactly sure which were the middle finger bones so he'd taken what looked closest to check against one of Beth's anatomy textbooks. No one seemed particularly weirded out over the bone jar.

In fact, Marko and Beth were stuffing their faces with Chinese food, carrying on a lively conversation with the ghouls. Maria and Sophia were painting their nails; Jake was reading football scores in the paper. Charlie was sitting quietly, listening, still growing familiar with his new family, since he'd been living in Los Gatos before Max's death.

David ignored the takeout carton of sweet and spicy noodles on the table in front of him. Someone – Beth, likely – had placed it there, a pair of chopsticks stuck in the sauce-coated noodles.

He didn't feel like eating. His mind was torn between three things: the moment he had rammed the wine bottle into Edgar's throat, the dark void that seemed to be the afterlife he was destined for, and Beth wet and naked.

Standing abruptly, pushing the chair back so hard it scraped the tile floor, David stalked out of the dining room. All conversation paused as the ghouls and Marko watched the head vampire leave the room. Beth paid him no mind.

As soon as David was gone, the ghouls leaned in towards the vampires. "What's up with David?" Maria asked.

"Just David being _David_." Beth replied, swallowing a mouthful of pork fried rice. Marko laughed softly at that answer while Maria nodded. David had always been a brooder. Everyone had learned to take his moody silences in stride.

"Do you think he's upset about killing Edgar?"

"Hell no." Marko shook his head. "Besides, Beth's the one that finished him off..." Four pairs of eyes suddenly looked at the blonde vampire. Beth elbowed Marko hard in the ribs. "Hey! Well, it's true!"

"I thought you said David suffocated Edgar?" Jake raised a brow.

"He did. Sort of." Marko confirmed, frowning.

"How do you _sort of_ suffocate someone to death?" Sophia asked Beth.

Taking up David's untouched carton of noodles, Beth swirled them around in the sauce with the chopsticks. "I don't know how much of Max's blood Edgar ingested, and it could have been a matter of how long he'd been a half-vampire, too, but his hyperphysical healing was pretty strong. He looked decidedly dead when we got there but when the bottle was removed from his throat, he... started to come back."

Now the four pairs of eyes switched to stare at Marko. Marko growled at them.

"What! I didn't give him a bucketful! It was maybe half a bottle, tops, over a couple of days!"

Maria shook her head, clucking her tongue softly in rebuke. Jake shared a look with Sophia. Only Charlie looked confused.

"How much blood does it really take to turn someone half?"

"Depends on the blood you're drinking." Beth polished off the last few noodles, placing the wooden chopsticks in the empty carton. "The blood of an older vampire is decidedly more potent than a vampire of, say, fifty to a hundred years. A sip of Max's, even two, would be enough to jump start the process immediately."

"What about David's blood?" Charlie asked.

Beth's lips pressed into a thin white line for a moment before she answered. "He's of Max's bloodline so there's that power in his blood but diluted by, say, half."

"And you said you gave Edgar half a bottle full of Max's blood?" Maria scowled at Marko.

"Hey! I didn't know how powerful that shit is! Like you expect me to know about that stuff?" Marko scowled back, agitated, his fingers drumming on the jar of Paul's bones.

Charlie's expression revealed he was full of sudden questions. "But if David turned you into a half-vampire, Beth, how did he do it so quickly?"

"I was already a ghoul, Charlie. I'd been a ghoul for years. Each of you has the potential to turn half, if that was the plan, and it would still take a lot of David's blood but it could be done."

Charlie frowned. "But that still doesn't answer how he turned you so quickly if he used his blood instead of Max's?"

"Shut up, Charlie." Maria ordered, giving the youngest ghoul a stern look. Everyone could see the red rising in Beth's eyes. "No more questions about that."

"Yeah, sure, okay." Charlie looked skeptical but didn't press.

"You two better get to the master suite. Sunrise is coming up fast." Sophia nodded towards the clock in the kitchen.

Marko grabbed a couple of the fortune cookies from the table, snatched up his jar of bones in the other hand, and headed off without another word. Beth stood up and began to gather the empty cartons.

"We can do that, Beth." Maria reminded her gently.

"Habit." Beth answered absently, putting the cartons back on the table. That, and her unspoken attempt to avoid being alone in a room with David and Marko while they were all still conscious.

"You've had a hell of a night, girl; dealing with two deaths and a brooding teenage vampire. It would exhaust _anyone_ , even you." Maria got up and patted Beth's shoulder, collecting the containers for the trash. "Go on, go to bed."

The blonde vampire nodded absently. "Okay. Night, all."

The ghouls said their good nights as Beth exited the dining room. Maria and Sophia cleaned up the table while Charlie took out the garbage. Jake looked at Sophia and shook his head.

"I don't know if I want to take that blood bond to David, after all this."

"It's not that much, Jake; just a drop on each wrist, and one on the tongue. No different then what we did for Max."

"Yeah, but Max _wasn't_ half as psycho as David _is_."


	25. "lost inside my sick head"

Marko was already settled on the loveseat, chowing down on the cookies, reading the little paper fortune slips. The jar of Paul's bones was on the floor, close to reach. Beth wondered, from the way Marko was quietly reading the fortunes aloud and snickering, if he was imagining Paul to still be with them.

Beth knew she was going to have to keep an eye on Marko and his jar of bones.

Locking the doors to the master suite, she turned to head towards the bathroom. David was on the bed, lying on the side previously occupied by both Marko and Beth. Far enough away from the lamp on the nightstand that he was shrouded in shadow, the blonde could tell David was staring blankly at the vaulted ceiling. Maybe he'd found the cobweb, too?

Finding dry clothes, Beth cleaned up and changed in the bathroom. By the time she came back into the main part of the bedroom, Marko was curled up under his blanket, softly snoring. She marveled how he always looked so angelic when he was asleep.

Switching off the lamp, Beth climbed into the California king bed, pulling the covers up. David hadn't moved and she could tell he was still staring, though it was obvious his mind was a million miles away.

It wasn't new. David had always been like this, even before Max had turned him. It made him dangerous to those who didn't know how to think three steps ahead like David did. Always thinking, always plotting, always looking for the next move.

Stretching out her arm under the covers, Beth's fingertips were nearly on his shoulder when David growled. " _Don't touch me_."

She almost ignored his warning. _Almost_. Not up to fighting, because that's exactly what would happen, Beth withdrew her hand. Settling on her right side, she slowly and carefully inched across the mattress, until she was next to David. There was still a gap of space between them but she made her presence known.

David said nothing more, just stared at the ceiling. Beth closed her eyes and fell asleep.

***

David felt the sharp points of the horns enter his back, the force of impact sliding them through his body like hot knives. He screamed, yelled, pleaded. He laid his head back, suddenly exhausted, the pelts of dead animals under him forming a macabre funeral bier.

He heard Paul screaming, Dwayne screeching in a high-pitched tone. There weren't words to understand; the noise was pure fear. They were dying and couldn't fight back.

David's eyes closed and everything went dark.

It felt like a second, or maybe eternity, before his eyes opened again. He couldn't see; correction, there was _nothing_ to see. Pure blackness, no pinpoint of light to give it depth, shape, dimensions. He tried to raise a hand to wave it in front of his face. David couldn't see it. He felt his arm move, his hand wave, but there was also disconnect. He felt not entirely in control of his body.

David screamed. The noise should have carried, maybe even echoed, but he only heard the sound muffled inside his head. He screamed again but the same thing happened. There was no sound in this light-less void.

Was he running or was his brain imagining the motion, the movement of his legs, the swinging of his arms? He was panting harshly but unsure he was drawing air into his lungs. Did he need air? Was he breathing at all? His nervous system was overloading and panic set in.

Dead? Was he _dead_? Had he died on that workbench, the horns sticking up through his chest? Where were Paul and Dwayne? They had entered the old man's house with him, to get revenge on Michael and Star, the younger brother and his little friends. They had flown to the property. The Lost Boys had flown over Max's house, startled Thorn within, he had barked at them. They had flown out of the cave, over the endless waves of the Pacific Ocean. David, Paul, and Dwayne had dropped from the ceiling, finally awake, sunset at last...

David stopped screaming. There was laughter in this endless void. Was he laughing? It sounded like another voice, an _unknown_ voice, laughing darkly...

Throwing his head back, he yelled names. At least his mind thought they were names. They were words, but what was a word? What was he? What had he been?

_Who_ was he?

_David_ , he answered his breaking mind. _I am David, of the Lost Boys_.

The laughter came back, louder this time...


	26. "my twisted passion to be your world"

"No!"

David came awake with such force it hurt him. His head ached, his mouth was dry, and his joints screamed as he flailed. His talons sunk into something soft. He tore into it, until a plume of feathers filled the air, some getting in his mouth. Blinking, he realized he was panting harshly, gasping for air.

He couldn't remember where he was. The room was dark but he wasn't hanging upside down from a pipe, in a dark cavern deep inside the cave. Why had he just destroyed a feather pillow? Where were the other Boys? Why was he alone?

Struggling to get up, David fell off the bed, landing beside it on the plush carpet. He crawled on his hands and knees around the bed frame, too dizzy to stand up, too weak to walk. He wanted to cry out for help but his tongue felt stuck to the roof of his mouth and his mind couldn't form the words.

David smashed into the door, snarling as the pain blossomed in his nose. He scratched the wood with his talons before finally finding the doorknob. It took a minute for him to remember how to twist it open.

Somehow he got to his feet, leveraging himself up with the help of a wall. He was in a hallway now. There were lights at the end of it. David could hear voices. Leaning against the wall, he rested, trying to make sense of his surroundings and get control of his body, his thoughts.

Panting, David struggled down the hallway, leaning against the steady wall, his footsteps clumsy. Before long he reached the living room, now devoid of occupants, everything put back in its place. David grabbed on tightly to the back of the couch, using it to pull himself towards the voices.

Unsteadily David made it into the dining room, his eyes smarting against the bright lights that illuminated the space. The soft whoosh sound of the ceiling fan blades hurt his ears. His senses were overloaded, unstable. What the hell was wrong with him?

The first face he saw he recognized: Marko. He was _alive_? How was that possible? He had been staked in the chest, had fallen to the dirt floor, writhing in agony before death took him!

Gripping the corner of the wall, David turned his head, trying to focus on the second figure in the dining room. Again, recognition came easily. But how was Beth here? She had left Santa Carla, left David behind! When had she come back?

The two vampires were playing a game of dominoes; why David knew that, he was unsure. Half his mind seemed to be completely aware but a connection was not being made to the other half. He stumbled as he pushed away from the wall, unsteady on his feet, as he moved closer.

Beth sat at the head of the table, clad in a black bikini top, a colorful beach towel wrapped around her waist. Her wet hair was twisted up and clipped out of her face. David was shocked at how naked she seemed; normally she was as dressed as him, covered from neck to feet. It bothered him, her bare skin on display, even if she was alone with just Marko.

Speaking of, the other Lost Boy was sitting to the blonde's left, smoking a joint and eyeing the tiles on the table. His jacket was hung on the back of a different chair, leaving him clad in the dirty white tank top and blue jeans he preferred, his muscular arms bare. Someone had braided back his long curls, working the string, trinkets, and other ephemera into the plait. The peanut butter jar of bones sat on top of the table, at Marko's elbow.

"What the hell is going on? What time is it?" David yelled loudly, gripping the back of a chair, as his knees started to wobble. The other vampires looked up from their game just in time to see their leader falter on his feet.

"Whoa, bud, you okay?" Marko shoved his chair back and came over to where David stood. David pushed away Marko's outstretched hand.

"What are you wearing?" He growled at Beth.

"Max has a pool, David. I don't go swimming in my leather jacket." Beth looked nonplussed. "Besides, since when do you care what I wear?"

"I care when you're flashing your goods for _everyone_ to see!"

Beth and Marko shared a look. This was... _not normal_.

"What's wrong, bud?" Marko asked again, this time getting a hand on David's forearm. He could feel the other vampire shaking. Looking at Beth, he tipped his head towards the leader, his expression full of concern.

"Why didn't you wake me? _Why didn't I wake up_?" David rambled, seemingly unaware of Marko's hand on his arm.

"David?" Beth got up from her chair, slowly approaching David from the other side. He wobbled harder. Marko grabbed him by the upper arms, holding him up.

"Beth, what the hell is wrong with him?"

"I don't know." She replied honestly as she reached up and put her palm to David's cheek. "He's burning up."

"He feels cold to me."

The blonde frowned, watching as David mumbled under his breath, agitated. A trickle of blood appeared, running out of his left nostril and spreading through the mustache on his upper lip. "Damn it!"

" _Holy shit_!"

"Marko, get him in the chair!" Beth ordered, kicking at one of the legs to spin it around as Marko pulled the disoriented vampire towards him. He pushed David into it, watching the leader drop like a sack of potatoes.

"Why does he have a nosebleed? What the hell is happening to him, Beth!"

"He needs blood." The blonde answered, her face already shifting.

"There's bottles in the wine cooler." Marko started into the kitchen after one. "Max's blood should..." he stopped short, realizing Beth was biting open her wrist. "What are you doing?"

Coming round to stand behind David, her right arm went loosely around his neck while her bleeding left wrist pressed against his mouth. "C'mon, David, that's it." Beth reassured him. David was slow to understand, unsure why there was blood on his lips. Both vampires went still, waiting and watching, until David finally began to drink.

Beth held him in the chair, keeping her left arm in place until David took hold with his own hands, gripping tightly as he lapped down the blood. Marko frowned, half sitting on the edge of the dining table, the game of dominoes forgotten.

"Why didn't you let me get him a bottle of Max's blood?" He asked suspiciously.

"Old blood, cold in a wine bottle, versus fresh, hot blood?" She asked back, giving him a sharp look. Marko still looked suspicious. "It would be like bottle feeding him. He needs fresh."

"If you start breastfeeding him or something, I am out of here."

David snarled loudly, pushing away Beth's bleeding wrist. The blonde released him, stepping back from the chair, licking at her wrist until it finished healing. Marko stayed where he was.

"What the hell is going on?" David roared. His eyes were clear and focused, instead of glazed and distant. He wiped at the blood smeared around his mouth. "Who did I bite?"

"You didn't. Beth fed you." Marko pointed at the female vampire. David twisted round in the chair, glaring.

"Explain!"

"No, _you_ explain!" Beth growled. "You walked in here, in a goddamn daze, babbling in tongues. You had a fever and the chills, plus a damn nosebleed."

"You didn't wake me!"

"Why should we have? You've never _not_ risen on your own at sunset." Marko answered.

"I tried." Beth added. "You pushed my hand away and growled, so I let you be."

David couldn't hide the confusion on his face. Ever since he'd turned he'd _always_ awakened at sunset. He'd always been the first up, the last down. He fumbled, catching the edge of the beach towel wrapped around Beth's waist, using it to wipe the blood off his face.

"David?"

"No. There was... no. No, go away, Marko." He ordered the younger Lost Boy, hunching his shoulders, letting go of the beach towel.

"What? After that little performance? _Hell no_!" Marko growled, eyes flashing amber.

" _I said go away,_ _Marko_!" David roared angrily, pointing towards the patio doorway.

Marko snarled, pushing away from the table, grabbing his jacket and the jar. "Get a handle on him, Beth! You're supposed to know what the hell you're doing!" With a last glare at David, Marko disappeared outside onto the deck, slamming the sliding glass door shut. Thankfully, it didn't crack.

"David?" Beth came around to stand in front of him, putting herself between the table and his chair. David was still hunched over, refusing to look up. "David, what happened?"

"I died. _I died_ _again_ and I was back there, in the darkness, in the _nothingness_. I heard Paul and Dwayne screaming, _dying_." The words flowed out of him so fast Beth had trouble keeping up. "I couldn't see. Was I even there? Did I have a body? Moved my arms, tried to run... Was I floating?"

"David..."

"I tried to remember, everything was winding backwards and my memories were disappearing as I tried to remember what happened. How we got there, flying in the night, out of the cave, but then we were hanging upside down, asleep. My hand was on fire, I was screaming. There were faces in the darkness, Marko in pain..."

Beth slapped David's face so hard she dislocated a few fingers. He stopped talking, motionless for a long moment, before he slowly looked up at her.

" _What the hell was that for_!"

"Are you _yourself_ again?"

"What?" David snarled, sitting up in the chair, staring at the blonde. He blinked, looking slowly at his surroundings, realizing he was in the dining room. Beth raised her hand to slap him a second time. David caught her by the wrist, his eyes flaring red, his countenance thunderous. " _Do not slap me again_!"

"How else am I supposed to make you come to?" The blonde yanked free of his grasp. David watched her breasts bounce from the movement, caught his finger in the fabric triangle, tugging it down to partially expose her. Beth slapped his hand away.

"Knock it off, David!"

"You're the one shoving them in my face." David huffed as Beth crossed her arms over her chest. "Where's Marko?"

"You ordered him outside."

"I did?" David's brow furrowed. He didn't remember that. "I want a cigarette." Beth walked to the other end of the table, retrieving the pack and bringing it back to David. Fishing one out with his fingers, he lit up, using the nicotine to smooth out his thoughts.

"You were in the ground too long."

"No."

"David, you came in here babbling, bleeding. I fed you my blood. Do you remember that? Do you remember telling me about the darkness, about dying all over again? The other place?"

David frowned, sucking down another drag off the cigarette. He shook his head. "No."

"Then my assessment stands. Your soul was decaying, consumed by... _wherever_ you where. Your body didn't corrupt because you were buried intact. If they had removed the horns, you might have been in worse shape; the wounds being plugged up instead of open must have made a difference. The damages you suffered were minimal. Just like Marko, a single wound, but what happened after your deaths... so very different..."

" _Enough_." David snapped. "I don't want to talk about that esoteric bullshit."

"How else am I going to figure out what's wrong with you, to fix it?"

"Right now you have more pressing matters to attend to."

"What are you talking about?"

David leaned back in the chair, showing her the problem. " _This_."

Beth sputtered, exasperated. "Are you kidding me? You didn't walk out here with that."

"No, but you fed me your blood, didn't you."

The blonde raised a brow. "You remember that _now_?"

"No." David shook his head. "But my body does, sweetheart."

"I can't believe this. You were dying then suddenly pop a boner?"

David growled, grabbing Beth's elbow, yanking her closer. "Out of anyone, you know this can happen after a feed. This isn't an unwanted surprise in the middle of math class. This is _your_ fault!"

" _My_ fault?" Beth tried to pull away. David's grip on her elbow tightened like a vice. She realized he was staring at her breasts again. "How the hell is _that_ my fault?"

"We're blood-bound, Beth. Our bond is deeper and darker than anyone in this family knows." David's hand slid up her arm, over her shoulder, pulling her down by the neck until she was leaning into him. He licked the curve of her ear. "You missed this part of us."

"We rarely did it when I was your ghoul, David." Beth shuddered, putting her palm against his chest, trying to push him back.

"Because it was all the hotter when we finally did. All that build up, the denial... the _tension_. Made the frenzied release all the more _satisfying_."

Beth tried to push him away but his mouth came against hers, his lips still tasting of blood. _Her_ blood. David had a way of kissing that could melt any resolve, especially hers. Beth bit his lip, making him chuckle as he leaned back, licking the split flesh.

"Here."

"Here?" David raised a brow. "In the dining room?"

"There's no one home but us. And Marko won't come back inside until you order him to." Beth stepped back, reaching her hands up under the beach towel. There was a smacking sound of wet fabric hitting the tiled floor. Beth stepped out of the bathing suit bottom puddled around her feet.

She made move to straddle his lap but David growled, his palm against her stomach as he held her back. His other hand grabbed her by the hip, spinning her round before he pushed her down against the table.

He stepped in, flipping the towel up as his knee pushed hers farther apart. Beth heard the clink of his belt buckle, the soft sound of the zipper. She gasped softly as he pressed against her from behind, his weight pushing her down against the wooden table, while his fingers inched under the fabric cup of her bikini top.

"Here is just fine, _Tink_."


	27. "I thought I could fly"

He found Marko sitting on the pool deck, his jeans rolled up to his knees, kicking his feet lazily in the heated water of the pool. His jacket and black leather chaps were tossed over one of the plastic deck chairs; Marko had undone the braid, his long curls spread down his back again.

David approached casually, though the jingle of his spurs practically announced his presence. Marko glanced up as the head vampire came to a stop beside the edge of the pool.

"Did Beth screw your head back on tight?"

"I could never tell if it was jealousy or envy."

"Huh? About what?"

David lit himself a cigarette. "Your constant commentary about me and Beth."

Marko shrugged, kicking his feet in the water. The peanut butter jar floated by, pushed along the length of the pool by the underwater jets. David frowned at it.

"I don't care, man. Like I already said, do what you want with her. Max ain't here to tell you no."

"No, he's not. But I don't like your constant disapproval." David hissed.

"You said it wasn't romantic."

"It's not." David snorted.

"You need her."

"Correction: I have her. I don't need her."

Marko snorted. "Whatever, dude, you can keep telling yourself that. But you wouldn't be standing here arguing with me if she hadn't come back to Santa Carla to raise your dusty ass from the dead."

David wanted to refute Marko's assessment of the situation but it was painfully all too true. Would anyone else have tried to raise him? Would anyone have tried to bring Marko back? Could anybody but Beth know how to do it? David didn't think so.

"She brought you back, too." David finally countered, sucking hard on his cigarette.

"Sometimes I don't know why." Marko replied, kicking his foot through the water, splashing the jar, trying to sink it. It bobbed back to the surface, floating along merrily. "You don't need me anymore with Beth around."

"That's untrue, Marko."

"Is it?" The younger Boy countered, looking up at David. "Yeah, I did the grunt work while she was gone but it wasn't the same as when she did it. You two have that weird love connection-"

"It's not love!"

"Sure." Marko muttered. "Anyway, it's not the same. And she's settling right back into place like before."

"You're my brother. I still need you."

Marko shrugged. "All you need me for is to yell at me or send me out of the room so you can do Beth."

Gripping Marko's shoulder, David leaned over, looking the younger Boy in the eye. "I've only been back a couple of nights, Marko. A lot's changed. You were alone, without any of us, for quite a while."

"You don't have to remind me."

"What happened, happened. We've had our revenge. We're back on top, Marko! We fucking own Santa Carla now!"

"You do." Marko reminded David. "I don't give a shit about power or ruling."

"But you like the benefits and rewards."

The younger Boy chuckled, kicking his feet in the water, making small splashes. "That... that's true! Living in the lap of luxury, with a bitchin' piece of property and cash in the bank, a real step up from the cave!"

"We're going back to the cave." David released Marko's shoulder, standing up.

"What?!"

David nodded. "This isn't our home. This is Max's home. We don't belong here, not us vampires. This place is bad for us. I can't spend another day sleeping in that damn bed. The ghouls can live here; they're human, after all. But you, Beth, and I are moving back to the cave."

"But I died in that cave, man!" Marko sputtered, hauling himself up to his feet to look at David face to face. "You didn't!"

"The cave is ours. We belong there."

Marko crossed his arms over his chest, glaring at the head vampire. "You are sick, just like Beth said."

"Yes, I'm sick and goddamn tired of living in Max's house!" David snapped, eyes glowing red. "I want to go home! Being in the cave will help me recover. Just like torturing the Frog helped you get better!"

Raising a brow at that, Marko pursed his lips in thought. "I guess I can't argue with you over that."

"Good, because the decision is already made. We're going to the cave tonight and staying there."

"Did Beth agree?"

David frowned. "I haven't told her yet."

***

Beth climbed down from David's bike, adjusting the backpack straps, centering the weight more evenly after the contents had been jostled by riding the dirt trail through the woods. It was only a few books; a cave was not a great place to store old and fragile texts. Maria had put the rest in her bedroom for safe keeping.

Walking to the edge, Beth looked down the sheer drop, where the waves were crashing hard into the strip of sand that ran along the base of the cliff. It wasn't as bad as some nights, but the water still roiled and churned itself into white foam.

"I can't believe you actually wanted to come back here." She murmured under her breath. David heard her and frowned.

"It's our home."

Marko walked towards the wooden steps and started to ascend them.

"Marko!" David called out, catching the younger Boy's attention. "Let's get in some air time."

"Radical!" Marko grinned, grabbing the wooden railing, hopping up to stand on it. He jumped off, into the open air, falling like a rock before he spread his arms. Reversing direction, he shot up through the open space. David laughed and clapped. Beth rolled her eyes.

"I'm taking the stairs, like a civilized person."

"No. You're not." David smirked wickedly before he unceremoniously shoved Beth from behind, hard. She stumbled, losing her balance, the rocky soil at the edge of the cliff crumbling under her boots. The blonde fell over, head first, screaming.

David toed a large rock with the tip of his boot, scratched his jaw, and waited.

"You think yourself so damn hilarious, David." Beth hovered slowly into view, her loose hair whipping round wildly in the winds, arms crossed tightly over her chest, scowling angrily. David smiled then began to laugh.

"Didn't forget how to fly, did you, Tinker Bell."

Beth started to make a snappy comeback when Marko flew over, joining them. "Nice nosedive, Beth. I haven't seen someone take so easily to flying their first time. You're really one of us now!"

"She's a natural." David agreed, ignoring the look of warning Beth gave him. Marko had no idea this wasn't her first time flying.

"It would have been nicer not to be pushed off a damn cliff!"

"Gotta fall before you learn to fly." David countered, stepping off the cliff and into the air. He smiled at Beth as he passed by, aiming towards the upper hole in the cliff that opened a small tunnel that led inside the cave. Marko whooped and immediately followed.

Beth shook her head, adjusting the straps of the backpack once again, before trailing along after the Boys.


	28. "take my hand"

They purged the cave best they could. Anything and everything Star and Laddie had touched or called dibs on was taken out to the rocks just above the tide line and collected into a burn pile. The old twin mattress, the torn lacy curtains, clothing, all the stuffed animals the Boys had stolen from the Boardwalk for Laddie: it all burned to charred clumps of fabric, plastic, and foam.

It gave Marko something to do. He did like a good fire.

David took up residence in the wheelchair, directing Beth around the cave, as she took stock of what was left. There were two bottles of David's wine, which everyone really knew to be Max's blood, which she found on a shelf in the old wooden bar the Boys had dragged over and set up across from the broken fountain. Beth looked them over before setting them in a cardboard box to be returned to the house for proper storage.

"Wouldn't it be better to keep them here, for Marko?" David asked.

"Don't you mean the both of you?" Beth raised a brow.

"I'm not drinking that shit ever again." David growled darkly.

Beth frowned. "What if something happens and you need to heal?"

"I have you."

"David, you bled me out once already."

"You're fine plus you're a vampire now. You'd make a kill afterwards, fill up on blood, you'd be good as new." David countered.

"What, top me off like a gas tank?"

"Exactly."

"Oh, that makes me feel real special, David." Beth growled.

"It should." David snapped. "You're my own private reserve."

Beth sighed. "Marko's going to eventually figure it out, David, and so are the ghouls."

"I'm not having Max's blood back in my veins. It's bad enough it's still a part of me but I'm not willingly adding to it ever again!"

Shrugging, Beth set the box aside. "You can't erase it, not entirely. That's not how it works, David."

"Watch me."

"He's going to notice-"

"What am I going to notice?" Marko asked, coming around the fountain, a pigeon clinging to his forearm. David snorted angrily and stayed silent, leaving Beth to answer.

"That we can't sleep up here and we're going to have to go back to..."

"To where the Frog staked me. Yeah, I already knew that, Beth." Marko shrugged, running his fingers over the pigeon's wing.

Beth glanced at David before turning back to Marko. "There's parts of this cave that haven't been explored. Another night, we might be able to find somewhere else to sleep."

"Pretty sure the king of Santa Carla would overrule it."

David growled softly. "There's no one left who knows we're here, knows where we sleep. There's nothing to be apprehensive about!"

"There's also no pool, no fridge, no VCR, no pizza delivery, no where to escape to when you two decide to screw each others' brains out!"

"Marko!"

"Leave him alone, David." Beth shook her head. David glared darkly at her. Marko looked between the two vampires.

"Looks like mom and dad are fighting again." He stage whispered dramatically to the pigeon, before he took off towards the other side of the cave. David and Beth watched him disappear into the space where Star's nook had been.

"He'll get over it. He has to face his fears sometime."

"You sound so fatherly, David."

The head vampire snorted. "I'm not Max. Max would have coddled him."

"The hell he would have! I distinctly remember him putting the four of you out on the street instead of letting you stay at the house as soon as you were all fully turned!"

"Only because the neighbors complained about the noise of our bikes coming home so early in the morning."

"And because you were holy terrors! No wonder Max thought a mother might be a good influence on you."

"So we slashed a couple dozen tires, spray painted some cats, upset a few children. We were typical teenage delinquents! Max just didn't want us to crush his cool single dad vibe."

"I also remember a time when Paul and Dwayne climbed on the neighbor's roof and mooned the people at their pool party, while you and Marko stole all the beer."

"That was actually funny!"

Beth made a face. "Only because you dared them!"

"They were easy to dare."

"I can't argue with that logic. Paul never did pick 'truth', always took 'dare'."

David chuckled, remembering some of the crazy shit Paul had done in his short time as a Lost Boy. At times it was absolutely hilarious and at others it had been incredibly annoying. He was going to miss Paul. David got up, headed towards the mouth of the cave.

"C'mon, let's go get dinner. A good kill, that'll cheer Marko up."

***

"God damn it!" Marko growled as the three vampires came into the main part of the cave. He lifted the hem of his stained tank top, surveying the damage. The jagged edges of the knife wound were slow to heal but he wasn't bleeding heavily anymore.

"You're just lucky that six inch knife didn't carve up your liver." David pointed out, surveying Marko's wound.

"Here." Beth rejoined the group, handing Marko one of the wine bottles. "This will patch you up fast."

"What, I'm not important enough to get fresh?" Marko sneered, glaring at David.

"Just drink Max's blood, Marko." David scowled. "You need to be healed up before sleeping."

Still glaring, Marko swiped the bottle from Beth's hand and put it to his lips, chugging the contents. After swallowing a large mouthful, disgust spread across his face. "Ugh! This stuff tastes terrible! What happened to it?"

Beth frowned, taking the bottle back from Marko, sniffing the contents. "I don't know. Maybe it got exposed to sunlight?"

"Not possible. It was in a protected place." David lifted the edge of Marko's tank top, ignoring the younger Boy trying to bat his hand away. The knife wound began to heal slowly but visibly, the flesh repairing. "Doesn't seem to have affected its healing properties."

"All I know is I'm not drinking out of that bottle again." Marko pointed at the bottle in Beth's hand.

"Maybe it was one of the older ones." The blonde gently turned the bottle, trying to look at the contents through the low light cast by the oil barrel fire. "That would..."

"That would what?" David interrupted, raising a brow.

"She means they go bad, like milk going sour." Marko explained.

"How does blood go bad?"

Beth sighed, frustrated by David's lack of interest in knowing such things. "Blood degrades, even vampire blood. It can't keep forever. Sure, we have a little supernatural influence that helps but the farther we get, time-wise, from Max's death, the more that magic weakens and falls apart. It wasn't chunky, was it, Marko?"

"No, not that I could tell. Not like that one bottle I tried." Marko confirmed. "It kind of tasted rancid but peppery?"

"Ew." David made a face. "You drank chunky blood?"

"I spit it out." Marko groused. "It was disgusting."

"Some of the bottles had already turned, coagulated. I think they were the oldest in the bunch that Max kept." Beth shrugged. "Maria tried to get him to label them with dates but Max kept better records on rental late fees."

David nodded. "You said something about using a lot to bring Marko back?"

"I looked like Carrie during prom by the end!" Marko grinned. "It was gnarly!"

"Yeah, it took me time to get a handle on which stuff was past its prime and we wiped out the most recent ones." Beth explained. Walking over to the box that held the second bottle, she pried the cork out and sniffed it. "This one smells fine. Try it, Marko."

"Why do I have to be the guinea pig!"

"You're the one who got stabbed." David reminded him, taking the bottle from Beth and passing it to the younger Boy. Marko sipped from it, cautiously.

"It tastes fine." He announced, taking a larger drink to prove it.

"Well, you just keep drinking from that one," David instructed, taking the first bottle and dumping the contents onto the fire burning in the oil barrel. The flames flared up, leaping up from the metal container, forcing the head vampire to step back. "Whoa, that never happened before."

Beth snorted, crossing her arms over her chest and giving David a look. "Fire is the number one killer of vampires. Of course vamp blood would burn all the hotter."

"Point taken." David growled, making sure he was standing far enough away before tossing the near-empty bottle into the barrel. The flames roared, flaring from orange to blue for a brief moment, before settling down again.

"We better get Goldilocks to bed so he can heal up." Beth nodded towards Marko.

"I'm fine!" Marko protested petulantly.

"Healed on the outside but you still need rest and recovery." David agreed. Marko grumbled, taking another swig from the wine bottle, before handing it to Beth, who put the cork back in.

"I'm not going first."

David rolled his eyes. "There's no bears, or Frogs for that matter, waiting for you."

Setting the bottle in the seat of the wheelchair, Beth covered it with the cardboard box. "I'll go first, okay?"

"Fine." David nodded. "But you're going after her, Marko." He pushed the younger Boy, who was slower to climb the steps, reluctant to follow the blonde into the narrow tunnel.

"Geez, lay off, man!" Marko griped. David was close on his heels as the vampires flew down into the tunnel, finally entering into the tall and narrow cave the Lost Boys had taken to sleeping in. Beth was standing at the bottom of it, staring up at the crisscrossing network of broken pipes and bars, looking rather apprehensive.

David hovered in mid-air, executing a near-perfect flip as his elongated feet caught the metal bar and latched on. He settled easily, his coat draping down around his shoulders like black wings.

Marko, on the other hand, stood on the bolder that jutted out from the wall. Nimbly, he climbed the broken and rusted piece of decorative metal railing that was exposed from when the resort hotel had collapsed nearly one hundred years before. At the top he reached out and took hold of the pipe, pulling himself along it hand over hand, before swinging his feet up like a gymnast would.

Catching the bar between his supernaturally elongated big and second toes, which essentially mimicked a thumb and index finger more than a bat's specialized claws, Marko let himself drop upside down.

"Okay, I can't do this." Beth stared at the Boys, shaking her head.

"You're a vampire. It's as easy as shifting." David looked down at her frowning. She realized both had shifted, their features vamped, David's eyes yellow in the dark space.

"C'mon, girl. If I have to, you have to, too." Marko chided.

"Come up here." David ordered, extending a hand towards Beth. She hesitated, glaring at him, unsure. "Now, Beth."

The blonde rose slowly in the air, her arms wrapped tightly around herself, apprehension on her features. She stopped, floating in the air, face level with David's, even though he was upside down. "I can sleep on the floor... in the dirt."

"You're a vampire. Act like one."

"Doesn't that mean we should be sleeping in coffins?"

David growled, seizing her by the elbows, twisting her upside down in the air. Beth shrieked, her hands grabbing at David's forearms, her features shifting, changing. Beth's face twisted as the sensation hit her, her supernatural nature taking control. "Oh god, that feels awful."

"You get used to it." David replied, pushing her so her feet were aimed for the same bar he hung from. Both watched Beth's feet grow longer, the toes extended, the nails become talon-like.

"Where did my boots go?"

"I've never thought to ask or worry about it." David manipulated her position more, until her newly formed toes were ready for the task. "Now grab on."

Beth huffed in objection, still gripping his sleeves. "Are you kidding me?!"

"I'm not holding you upside down all damn day!" David roared, impatient. "Grab onto the bar!"

"Yeah, stop being such a delicate wuss." Marko chimed in.

"Marko!"

Beth clamped her supernatural toes around the metal bar. It was stone cold under her flesh, making her skin writhe. She shuddered before glaring angrily at David.

"What? You're up here, now go to sleep." He ordered, glaring back, releasing her from his grip. David settled again, folding his hands over his chest and closing his eyes. Things in the small cave grew quiet, then silent, as the vampires began to doze.

It was almost too late when David realized something was wrong. Cracking open an eye, it took a moment for his mind to process Beth was shaking, her arms wrapped tight around her middle, looking absolutely terrified.

"I can't do this, David." Her voice was barely a whisper.

David tried to remember a time he'd seen Beth afraid. None came to mind. All they'd seen and done, been a part of, it would be enough to scare most anybody. But she'd never freaked or gotten scared, never seemingly been bothered by the blood and gore, hadn't batted an eye seeing the Boys in vampire form.

"You're scared of heights?"

"No, but I'm not fond of them, either!" David expected to hear anger in her tone but found none. She was purely afraid. Something inside of him that was usually steeled against this kind of emotional display softened.

Reaching out, his fingers caught some of her yellow hair as he took hold of her shoulder. David tried to tug her towards him but she was gripping the bar so tightly the joints of her toes had gone ghostly white. Sighing, David inched towards her before releasing one foot from the bar, swinging himself around so he was in front of the girl. He caught it again, so now his feet were on either side of both of Beth's.

"Beth." He spoke her name, trying to draw her attention, bodily blocking her view of the dirt floor. She didn't respond, just stared blankly at his chest, her lips pressed together hard as she continued to tremble. "Beth."

"David, you can ask a hell of a lot of me, but this..."

She squeaked softly in surprise as David's arms drew around her, pulling her against him. Beth tipped her head back, trying to look up at him while hanging upside down, confused by this act of kindness. The head vampire kissed her forehead then leaned back and closed his eyes, still holding her close.

"I'm right here; you won't fall. Now go to sleep, Tinker Bell."


	29. "but that has been done before"

Maria yawned, the morning paper crinkling in her hands as she turned the page. It was just after nine; she'd slept in, a luxury she hadn't been allowed in some time. Essentially she was her own boss now, running the video store; so a late morning here or there wouldn't make _the boss_ angry.

Scanning the paper, Maria marveled at how quickly the last few days had flown by. Saturday night David had been brought back, Michael and Star killed. Now it was Wednesday. The grandfather and Edgar Frog, the last two witnesses, the last humans to know about the vampires living in Santa Carla, were dead.

That was a _lot_ of work accomplished in just three nights.

Her eye caught a small blurb about the house fire, a minor update to the previously published article. It mentioned that the owner of the property had died in the hospital, succumbed to the injuries he'd sustained in the traffic accident.

"Case closed," Maria muttered, turning the page again. The next page was the local grocery store's weekly ad. Spreading the paper down on the table, she began to scribble a shopping list.

"Mornin'," Jake called as he and Sophia entered the kitchen, both yawning.

"Good morning."

"Coffee?"

"Sorry, I finished what was left over from yesterday." Maria answered, looking sheepish.

"That's okay, I'll make another pot." Sophia offered, taking the metal canister from the cupboard as well as grabbing the glass pot to fill in the sink.

"I would use bottled water." Maria cautioned. "The stuff from the tap made this batch taste funny."

Sophia nodded, getting a bottle of water from the fridge. "Got it."

"Bacon and eggs sound okay?" Jake pulled the frying pan out.

"Sure, why not." Sophia filled the coffee maker, putting the filter in the basket and scooping the grounds in.

"It's weird without the vamps around, isn't it." Maria asked randomly.

Jake waved his hand in a so-so motion, setting the pan on the stove and turning on the burner. "I guess I just took them to be part and parcel of living in the house now that Max's gone."

"I wasn't sure how long they'd stay, especially now that David's back." Maria sighed. "Beth wasn't thrilled about moving to the cave but he's the leader now. What he says goes."

Sophia frowned. "He's been deciding _a lot_ for someone who's only been back from the dead since Saturday."

"We had to wait and do what we could, while Marko got back on his feet and the Emersons were lulled into a false sense of security." Maria reminded her. "We always knew revenge would the first priority for David, Sophie."

"I guess it's a plus he didn't kick us out of the house or move us all into the cave." Jake noted.

"David knows humans, even ghouls, aren't suited to living in a cave." Maria replied. The smell of fresh coffee filled the air as the hot water steeped through the grounds and dripped into the pot. "Besides, this house is worth more to us to keep then sell right now."

"You think David will mellow out some, now that the loose ends are tied up?" Sophia opened a cupboard and took down three coffee mugs.

"With Beth here, most certainly." Maria nodded. "If she wasn't, I'd be worried. But without her, David _wouldn't_ be here. None of us know how to do what she did. We didn't even know how to bring Marko back, not properly."

"She's made herself very valuable." Jake sighed.

Maria frowned at the young man. "She _had_ to. Max didn't like her, not when he realized she was a strong young woman and not so easily molded as others. It got worse for her when Max realized she and David were close, worked together so well. David has always been ambitious, for better or worse. He wasn't afraid, didn't fear the transition. I think that helped it be successful."

"What about the other Boys?" Sophia glanced at the pot, before getting the cream from the fridge and the sugar bowl from the cupboard. She spooned sugar into her mug several times.

"Dwayne was a bruiser, the muscle, the backup. He may have always been quiet as a mouse but he was always thinking, always paying attention. Paul... Paul wasn't with us that long before David decided he was a good candidate. Probably because Paul was a loud mouth who liked a good time and wasn't afraid to be outrageous. Much the opposite of Dwayne; they got on surprisingly well for being near opposites."

"Good morning," Charlie wandered in, yawning, taking a seat in an open chair. The other ghouls returned the greeting. Jake cracked the eggs into the hot pain, scrambling them.

"Marko's always been neck and neck for being quiet as Dwayne, but he's a follower, never a leader. There's no threat to David's authority. Marko proved that when Beth was sent away, picked up the slack she left behind when the Boys no longer had her as their ghoul."

"He must resent she's back?" Sophia asked, pouring fresh coffee into the three mugs.

Maria closed the newspaper and folded it back up, sliding it over towards Charlie. "I don't know that it's resentment or if he's jealous. Marko respects David and not having his lead to follow all those months was hard on him. Beth tried but Marko wouldn't listen. That's why what happened with Edgar happened. David would never have let Edgar linger around so long."

"It's been less than a week," Charlie pointed out, as he opened the paper looking for the crossword. "They all need time to adjust and resettle. If David decided the cave was the best place for them to do that, then I agree."

"Only because you asked too many questions and pissed Beth off."

Charlie scowled, though his cheeks turned rosy. "I didn't mean to upset her. I just wanted to get answers. Max wasn't very forthcoming about a lot of this."

"He would have been, in time." Maria found herself defending the dead vampire yet again. Old habits _did_ die hard. "He was more cautious at the end..."

"Because he lost control of the Boys." Sophia explained, bringing the mugs of coffee to the table, setting the cream and sugar in the middle. Jake soon followed with the four plates heaped with eggs and sides of toast.

"We're out of bacon." He told Maria as he took a seat. He dumped a generous amount of cream into his mug, before sliding the carton towards Charlie.

"Adding it to the list."

***

David woke up to his arms empty.

He'd folded his hands over his chest in his sleep, as he always did, but that hadn't been the position he'd fallen asleep in. Something nagged at his mind, his sight slowly focused in the dark. David realized he was facing the wall that was usually at his back.

Turning around, Marko's form came into view, still hanging upside down from the pipe. The younger vampire appeared to still be asleep.

David frowned. Why were neither of them waking up at sunset? Was it something to do with having died? Would it right itself or would they always been just a fraction off for the rest of time?

Growling, David flew out of the cave and into the narrow tunnel, realizing what was missing.

He pulled up sharply, setting his boots down on the formed concrete steps, surveying the large main room of the cave. Everything appeared to be just as it should be; the only things missing were what they had taken down and burned the night before.

"Beth!" No answer. " _Beth_!"

The blonde vampire stepped out of the empty space, behind the arches, where Star had created her own living space. "What?"

"You're still here?"

Beth frowned, walking towards David. "Did you have nightmares again?" Her thumb caught the top of his cheek, gently pressing and tugging the flesh down as she peered into his eyes. David growled and smacked her hand away.

"No! I'm _fine_!"

"Of course I'm still here." Beth crossed her arms and looked at the head vampire warily. "Where would I go?"

"You... you weren't there when I woke up." David answered. "Why are you awake before Marko and I?"

"Maybe because Marko's healing from the stab wound? As for you, well, I would suspect you were right about needing to return to the cave. You slept soundly for the first time since you came back."

David nodded, the frown still forming on his lips. "Younger vampires wake last."

"I'm not young for a vampire, David." Beth reminded him. "I was a ghoul for three weeks before you gave me your blood to drink and made me a half."

"I remember."

The blonde looked surprised at that admission. "I had a lot of time to grow accustomed to the powers, the abilities, and the weaknesses. I'm used to being up during the day. But that's hampered now that I'm a full vampire. It's frustrating losing all those hours of consciousness I used to have."

"I'm not sorry I turned you." David growled softly.

"I'm not saying you should be sorry." Beth shook her head. "You didn't want to be the only vampire and didn't know Marko had been brought back. And you fulfilled your promise to me."

David nodded. "I did. So do you still resent me?"

"David, if I resented you, would I have raised you from death? Would I have killed for you? Would I have given in so quickly to sleep with you if I was _that_ angry with you?"

The head vampire stalked off without answering, grabbing the box and tossing it away, taking up the bottle of Max's blood. Keeping it in hand he sat down heavily in the wicker and metal wheelchair. He popped the cork.

"You said you weren't going to drink Max's blood ever again."

"I'm hungry."

Beth shook her head. "Then go out and kill something." There was a blur of movement, winds kicking up in the confines of the cave. The blonde's hand wrapped round the neck of the bottle, plucking it from David's grip, the cork as well. David growled at her.

"I said I was hungry!"

"Not this. Marko needs this more than you do." Beth pushed the cork back in. Leaning away, to put the bottle on the velvet loveseat, she gasped as David's fangs pierced her wrist. He'd grabbed her free arm, was sucking hard on the bite mark. "Damn it, David!"

The vampire didn't reply, just drank until it felt like his head was clearing. He eventually tossed Beth's arm away, causing her to stumble. She glared at David.

"There. I feel better now."

"I just _bet_ you do." The blonde turned on her heel and marched away, picking up a rag to clean up her healing wrist. David sulked in silence, looking around the cave, trying to recapture the feeling of power it had given him before everything had gone wrong.

His eyes landed on the peanut butter jar. "Get rid of those."

"What?" Beth looked up from where she was standing across the cave. "Get rid of what?"

David pointed at the jar. "That." Beth followed the direction he was pointing, walking over to the bar.

"Marko won't like that."

"Screw what Marko likes, I don't want those in the cave."

"There's a human skull sitting right there but the jar of finger bones _upsets_ you?"

"That's _different_! I didn't know the guy whose skull that was! But those bones belonged to Paul!" David snapped angrily. "He needs to move on. We _all_ need to move on!"

Beth raised a brow. "You're becoming a paranoid maniac, David."

" _I am not_!" David stood up from the wheelchair but the strength went out of his knees, causing him to sway. He wavered, blinking slowly, trying to focus. "Beth, I-"

"Easy, David." The blonde's arms were under his, pulling him gently towards the velvet loveseat. The head vampire dropped onto it, his legs giving out. He looked at Beth, helplessness in his eyes. "David!"

"What's wrong with me?" He shuddered, sliding to lie on his side on the loveseat. David could feel Beth's hands on his face, how warm they were compared to how cold he felt. He knew she was talking to him, yelling at him, but his hearing dimmed. David recognized the panic on her face but couldn't seem to answer.

"David? Beth?" Marko's voice rang out through the cave.

Beth turned her head away from David. Weakly, David's gaze followed in the same direction. He could see Marko, standing beside the fountain, his arms wrapped around his middle. Marko was vamped out, his golden eyes fever bright, his pale face dotted with perspiration.

"I don't feel good."

" _Shit_." Beth hissed, abandoning David on the loveseat, snatching up the bottle of Max's blood as she hurried over to the younger Boy. Uncorking it, she wrapped Marko's hands around the glass. "Drink!"

"What's wrong with me?" Marko asked her, before he saw David lying prone on the loveseat. "What's wrong with David!"

"I don't know! Now drink!" Beth ordered, raising the bottle to Marko's lips. Too weak to protest, Marko did so, gulping down mouthfuls of the blood. The blonde supervised, attempting to triage Marko's problems before turning back to help David.

The bottle empty, Marko tossed it into the nearest oil barrel. It broke as it hit the bottom, the sound of glass tinkling as the flames devoured the leftover vampire blood. Marko licked his lips, his face still transformed.

"Better?" Beth asked.

"Yeah, I think so." Marko nodded. He rubbed his face with the back of his sleeve, wiping away the sweat. "Go help David!"

Beth nodded, jogging back over to David. Kneeling in the dirt, she took the head vampire's hand. His skin was still ice cold but he had transformed, just like Marko. David's yellow eyes rolled weakly to look at Beth.

"David!"

"I'm still here." He answered weakly, panting against the pain. Everything inside him hurt. All his muscles, every joint, every inch of his very being felt like he was on fire. "I'm on fire, Tink. I'm burning."

"No, no, this isn't supposed to happen." Beth was crying, looking him over and trying to understand. She would have to leave his side to get a book, to try and diagnose what was happening. But even then she had no idea what book to look in. She might not even have the right book in the cave.

David squeezed his eyes shut against the pain. Beth cried out in shock, her hand on his cheek. "David, no!"

"David?" Marko's voice sounded odd to Beth's ears. She looked over her shoulder, back towards the younger Boy, who hadn't moved to join them. "Beth, I feel wrong..."

Blood ran in trickles from Marko's nostrils, the corners of his eyes, his ears. He opened his mouth to speak and blood gushed out, spilling in a dark crimson wave down the front of him. He reached out towards David and Beth, taking a step towards them, but got no further. Marko dropped to his knees, the trickles of blood turning into torrents, as he began to bleed out in front of the other vampires.

Beth screamed, crawling onto the velvet loveseat, lifting David up and holding him in her arms as they helplessly watched Marko exsanguinate on the dirt floor of the cave. His lips moved as though he was trying to talk to them but no words came out, only blood. Soon he went still, his golden eyes dimming and turning glassy, his body stretched out in the dark pool that continued to spread faster than the dirt could soak it up.

"Marko?" David's voice was rough, cracking in pitch, as he called out to the younger vampire. "Marko!"

There was no answer, of course. The Lost Boy was dead.


	30. "I'm feeling hopeless"

He struggled against the pain. Slowly, David regained control, the agony inside him subsiding. Beth was still holding him, her arms around his upper body, as they held their position on the velvet loveseat. She was crying, quietly. David's countenance melted back into his human face, as he stared at Marko's body.

"What the hell happened, Beth?"

"I don't know." She answered shakily, anguish in her voice. "It was so hard to bring him back. Maybe... maybe something went wrong in the process and the magic finally broke."

"Marko's dead. You failed." David replied bluntly.

Beth gasped, hurt. " _God damn it_ , David! I did everything I could to bring him back!"

"Not enough." David pulled from her grip, sitting up and away from the blonde's reach. He kept his boots off the floor, out of the blood that was slowly oozing towards them. Turning to look at Beth, he glared angrily at her. "You're supposed to know what you're doing!"

"I _do!_ "

" _Then why is Marko dead and why am I sick, almost dying!_ " David roared back. Metaphorical thunder and lightning passed between the two vampires as they stared at each other; David outraged, Beth resentful.

Finally, Beth backed down, looking away. "It could have been Max's blood. The magic in it could have failed, like I explained to you. Maybe we finally reached the end of its shelf life."

David frowned, remembering the problems with the first bottle Marko had drunk from the night before. "I've never seen vampire blood do _that_! It was like he melted from the inside out!"

"The Frogs knew about the cave." Beth looked around. "Maybe they came back, spiked it with something?"

" _Holy water_." David snarled softly, eyes flashing red. Beth nodded. "They must have found the bottles and poisoned them, fouled the blood."

"Oh, God, how horrible." Beth squeezed her eyes against more tears. "And I made him drink it."

"You didn't know." David offered her cold comfort. "He burned his fingers picking through Paul's bones, the holy water was still strong, soaked into them. I don't know how we could have detected it in the bottles."

Beth shook her head. "Poor Marko."

"You need to figure out what's wrong with me, Beth." David stepped a foot into the air, rising off the couch, floating over Marko's corpse. He landed beyond the reach of the pool of blood. "That's your job now."

"Most of my books are at Max's."

"Then we're going there."

"David, you're still weak. You could have another episode." Beth frowned.

"I'm fine _right now_." David grabbed the jar of Paul's bones from the bar. "Get off the loveseat and let's go."

"David, we can't just leave..."

"Yes. Yes, we can." David snapped. "We'll deal with it later."

"David that's not an it! That's _Marko_!"

"It _was_ Marko!" The head vampire snarled, his voice echoing around the cave. "It's a corpse now, and the faster you accept that, the better!"

Beth bit her lip, rubbing her face with her sleeve. "He was my friend, too, David."

"Let's go, Beth." David turned away, heading towards the entryway. Beth stared silently at Marko's body before she stepped into the air and flew over it, up and out the mouth of the cave. David was high in the air, headed out over the open ocean, away from the cave, when she came outside.

"David!" Beth called, landing on the wooden bridge.

With a growl, David pitched the peanut butter jar away, throwing it as far as possible. It landed with a splash, where the waters of the ocean were calm. The head vampire hovered in the air a moment, thinking of his lost blood brothers, before he turned around and came towards shore.

Beth was standing beside his bike as he dropped down from the sky onto the rocky ground of the bluff.

"There. That's better." David swung a leg over his bike, turning the engine over. Beth swung up behind him, her arms tight around him, as the vampires rode off towards the residential section of Santa Carla.

***

David gunned it up the hill, the bike's engine roaring as they came around the curve. He'd driven like a bat out of hell, running stop signs and ignoring traffic lights. There wasn't time to obey laws, especially if he was going to be dead soon.

The back tire fishtailed slightly as he slid the bike to a stop in the parking strip in front of Max's house. There were lights on inside. "Who's in the house?"

Beth shook her head. "I don't know, at least one of the ghouls? They wouldn't let any kids stay here unsupervised."

The blonde vampire climbed off David's bike, David following her lead across the wooden bridge to the entry of the home. Beth paused, her arm blocking David's path.

"What?"

"The door. It's open." Beth spoke quietly, nodding her head in the direction she wanted him to look. David could see the front door was ajar, light spilling onto the front porch.

" _Shit_." David's features shifted, eyes yellow, fangs extended. He held Beth back as he passed, taking the lead. The two vampires crept silently towards the door, David's talons at the ready. He pushed the door open wider, both sneaking inside.

Walking along the entry hall, both were on high alert for any sound, any sign of life. The house was deathly silent. No talking, no chatter, no television or music. Nothing seemed to be making noise except for the appliances.

"This isn't good." Beth whispered. David held up a hand to silence her, just before he walked around the corner into the living room.

He stopped abruptly, seeing the back of a head. Someone was sitting on the sectional. He tried to remember the guy's name. Barry? Chris? Chuck?

"Charlie?" Beth called softly. David frowned as the blonde vampire pushed past him and went around the couch. She put a hand out, touching the youngest ghoul's shoulder " _Charlie_!" Beth looked at David, fear in her eyes, as Charlie's body slumped sideways.

"Don't touch him!" David snapped, hurrying around the side of the sectional. Beth stepped backwards, looking in horror at the hand she had touched the ghoul's shoulder with. David eyed the body. Charlie's eyes and mouth were open wide, blood trickling from the corners.

David realized there was a bloody trail that ran down Charlie's shirt onto the plush white carpet. It was like a less grotesque version of what had happened to Marko. The ghoul had exsanguinated, just the same.

" _Damn it_!" David swiftly kicked the couch, the force of impact pushing it backwards, jostling the corpse. Beth screamed and ran towards the dining room. David rushed after her.

The blood pool covered most of the table, dripping slowly off the sides, making puddles on the tiles. Jake and Sophia were still in their chairs, bodies pitched forward to lie on the top of the table. There were plates, cups, silverware on the table; they had obviously been eating a meal when it had happened. Their eyes were open, like Charlie's, with similar trails of blood from the corners of their eyes and mouths.

Beth turned, grabbing onto David, burying her face against the front of his coat. David scowled darkly while looking over the death scene, his arms at his sides, hands balled into fists.

"What the hell is going on, Beth!"

"I don't know." Beth whispered against his chest, gripping the leather lapels tightly in her hands. "It's the blood. It must be Max's blood."

David snarled softly, his features still vamped. The smell overwhelmed him. He tried to use his supernatural senses to pick up on anything that could help them understand what had caused the ghouls' deaths. Beyond the blood, he could smell...

"Pepper. Marko said the blood tasted peppery."

"What?" Beth craned her neck to look up at David.

"The first bottle he drank from, the one we thought went bad. He mentioned it had a peppery taste."

Beth frowned. "There's a shaker of pepper on the table but that wouldn't cause them to bleed out like this. They weren't vampires, they were ghouls! I need my books... _Maria_!"

The blonde vampire shot out of the room, leaving David behind. "Beth, wait!" The head vampire ran after her, finding her standing in the doorway of the bedroom Maria had claimed, staring in. "Beth!"

"It's okay, David. She's not here." Beth stepped through the doorway just as David caught up. The vampire peered into the room. It was empty, at least of the head ghoul. All the furniture was there, the bookcase and desk, Maria's clothing. Beth was already pulling out books, tossing them on the bed, collecting everything she thought she might need.

"Is she at the video store?"

"Call the number, find out!"

David grabbed the phone from the nightstand, punching numbers into the keypad. The line connected but all he heard was ringing. "She's not answering."

"We'll have to go there. If she collapsed in the store..."

" _Leave the books_! We'll come back for them!" David shouted, slamming the receiver down. All they'd need is to find the police on the scene, investigating a bleeding out or dead Maria, a store of horrified witnesses being interviewed...

The vampires dashed out of the bedroom and back out the front door. Beth stopped to lock it with her key. David was already on his bike, revving the engine, by the time she crossed the bridge.

Beth jumped on the back of the bike and the two vampires tore off, racing towards the video store.


	31. "hopeless inside"

It may have been a Wednesday night but the humans were out and about. David let the bike's speed drop as they rolled through the parking lot. Approaching the retail space that held the video store, both vampires received a shock.

"What the hell is going on?" David murmured.

The building was dark, the doors locked, and the sign in the window read ' _CLOSED Sorry We Missed You!_ ' He looked over his shoulder as he stopped the bike, glancing at Beth. "Do you think she's in there? Maybe in the office?"

Beth bit her lip, aware of all the people wandering around, between the restaurant and other shops. "I don't know what to think."

David frowned, turning back towards the video store. It would be easy enough to open the back door and go in, search the place. If Maria was in the office, was _dead_ in the office, no one would know. They could clean it up, dump the corpse, keep the store closed indefinitely, make new ghouls, rebuild...

That was thinking too far ahead. The vampires needed to focus on the immediate present.

"Go." David ordered, his voice low, still staring at the dark video store. "Walk around a bit, then go in through the back and see if she's in there. Don't touch anything unless you have to! I'll meet you later at the Boardwalk."

"But, David..."

" _I said go, Beth!_ " David growled, his shoulders tensing as he gripped the handlebars of his bike. The blonde slipped off the back, gave him a last look then mingled into the crowd. David watched until she was out of sight. Starting his bike, he whipped it around and gunned it through the parking lot, sending pedestrians fleeing.

***

Parking his bike outside the Boardwalk entry point next to the carousel, David noted the absence of his friends. A single motorcycle instead of four; it wasn't fair. The vampire scowled, hatred for the Emerson family and the Frog Brothers burning in his heart.

Knowing they were dead, as dead as his friends, didn't give him the pleasure he thought it would.

David strode through the crowds that thronged the Boardwalk, a path always opening up in front of him as people scattered out of his way. Maybe it was the scowl on his face, maybe it was the way he moved, maybe humans could sense a predator in their midst. He didn't care, just so long as no one got in his way.

They should be here, the four Lost Boys, hanging out and people watching, defending their turf, deciding on their next victims. No. It was David alone, prowling the Boardwalk, feeling lost and helpless.

He hated that feeling. Not being in control, not knowing, not able to make decisions and lead. None of the other Boys had ever questioned him being in charge. David had always decided, had always made the choices...

David stopped short, arriving at the eastern end of the Boardwalk's expanse, staring up at the brightly lit Ferris wheel. Couples, parents with small children, even some old people were riding; all laughing and smiling, enjoying themselves. Life kept moving forward even when you were undead, your best friends were corpses, and your enemies finished.

What David wanted he couldn't regain. Killing Michael felt awesome but the feeling was fleeting. Star's death hadn't brought the pleasure he'd thought it would. Murdering Edgar hadn't really avenged Paul, certainly hadn't avenged Dwayne. Lucy, Sam, and Laddie's deaths hadn't been his doing; Beth and Marko, along with the ghouls, had orchestrated those.

Hell, when David thought about it, he hadn't even gotten to kill Max.

Add it all up and he was left with Beth, and Maria maybe, if she wasn't dead too. Everyone else was dead. A whole other round of bodies to deal with, a mess to clean up, and answers to find. Clearly Marko had ingested holy water; but the ghouls, what had caused their deaths? They were still part human. Holy water _shouldn't_ do that.

Plus, David still didn't know what was wrong with him. These episodes seemed to be getting worse, happening more frequently. Was it a matter of time before he perished, again? Could Beth figure it out, and more importantly, prevent it and save him?

The head vampire stomped away from the Ferris wheel, turning around and heading back towards his bike, at a loss on how to fix any of it.

He sensed her as he rounded the carousel's building, regaining focus amid his angst. Beth was waiting beside his bike, her expression blank, withdrawn.

"She wasn't there." She spoke quietly as David drew closer. "I don't know where she could be."

David frowned darkly. Something didn't add up. He could feel it, like a splinter in his mind, throbbing away. He needed to regroup and think, figure out the pieces of the puzzle he was missing.

"It doesn't make sense." David growled at Beth, his eyes darkening as the red seeped into the blue. "If Maria was there when the ghouls died, why didn't she come to the Cave? Why didn't she come find us?"

"I don't know, David." Beth chewed her lip, a forlorn expression on her face. "I need my books. I need to read and figure out what's going on, before something happens to you."

The head vampire growled, squeezing his eyes shut, the anger bubbling up inside and making him want to shift, to slaughter every living soul on the Boardwalk. What a headline that would make! David shook his head, climbing on his bike. "Get on."

Beth obeyed, swinging up behind David. The bike roared to life.


	32. "you infected me with envy"

"But, David, I _need_ my books!" Beth cried. David ignored her, climbing the wooden staircase, headed down towards the entrance to the cave. Her pleas, as soon as she had realized where they were headed, had fallen on deaf ears.

David wanted to think and the only place he wanted to be was the cave.

He heard Beth's boots as she followed him, down the wooden stairs and across the bridge, pausing as he lit a torch and went inside. Dumping it in an oil barrel, David surveyed the main room. It was just as they had left it...

...only not.

"What the hell?" David murmured, as the smell hit him.

Somehow, the garbage bags that held the remains of Dwayne and Paul had been transported to the cave and arranged in the middle of the space, inside the broken fountain. They reeked of decay and decomposition, a puddle of dark brown goo growing in the dirt underneath them. What remained of Marko was draped on top of the black plastic bags. The head vampire could see the stained tapestry patches of the jacket the Lost Boy had worn so proudly.

David's mind raced, trying to understand what he was seeing. That splinter was still there, waiting for him to pull it out. He turned his head side to side, trying to look over everything, find clues, to _understand_. The smells of death and decay overpowered the room, making it difficult to detect any unfamiliar scent. He wanted to know who'd been in the cave, who had defiled his home.

The sound of the gun's hammer being drawn back drew his attention.

Maria smiled warmly, the gun aimed at David's chest. "You look a little lost, Boy."

"What the hell?" David growled, his face shifting into his vampire form, his confusion turning into outright rage. He glanced to the side, looking for Beth, but the blonde wasn't there. Unwilling to take his focus off Maria, David scowled. "What is going on, Maria?"

"Oh, just a little family reunion, that's all. I knew you were lonely without the other Boys' company."

The head vampire's eyes narrowed as he looked at the gun in Maria's hand. He could move fast enough, take it away before she realized.

"Don't try anything." Maria shook her head, her hand steady as she kept the barrel aimed at the vampire. Bringing up her free hand, she shook a bottle at him. It had a plastic spray nozzle attached at the top. "Holy water and vampires really don't mix."

" _You_. You spiked the bottles of blood? You killed Marko?"

Maria shrugged, her glossy black curls shaking with the gesture. "I knew you kept some spare bottles of Max's blood here, so it wasn't hard to find them, add a little extra something to top them off."

A puzzle piece dropped into place. "You meant to kill both of us. Me and Marko."

"No shit, Sherlock. But I didn't take into account that Beth would prevent you from drinking Max's blood once you were raised. She told me, you know, about your little experiment. Quite clever, really. Didn't take you for being that smart but even you had to get lucky at some point."

David growled, sparing a glance at the other side of the cave. Still no sign of Beth. Had she seen Maria before he had, run off to hide? He hoped she was biding her time, waiting to attack the head ghoul.

"Holy water couldn't have killed the others. Those ghouls were still part human."

"In that you're correct," Maria nodded. "So I used ethylene glycol, antifreeze in the coffee, which they'd never detect. I threw in a holy water chaser, which was surprisingly effective on the vampire blood in their veins. Got a little messy but you have to break a few eggs sometimes!"

David snorted. "Wouldn't Max be so proud!"

"Oh, screw Max! He was just a love sick fool, head over heels for Lucy, couldn't imagine why you four would be upset about gaining a brother or two. It got real tiring at the end, hearing about how perfect and delicate Lucy was, how she'd be such a wonderful mother, set the Lost Boys on the straight and narrow path again!"

"It wouldn't have happened. Max was dreaming."

"I could say the same about you, your dream of being head vampire and ruling Santa Carla. A trio of comic book readers and a teenager in lust with Star took you four out! How sad is that? If you hadn't gone off half-cocked, all hotheaded and blind with blood lust, you'd have survived to fight another night! But that's what you get with teenage boys: they never see what's right in front of them. Or right behind them, in your case."

David frowned. "Behind me? I don't understand..."

"No, you wouldn't." Maria smiled, her white teeth flashing as she began to laugh.


	33. "tiny daggers in my eye"

"I'm sorry, David."

The vampire began to turn around but the sharpened piece of driftwood pierced him between the shoulders. Blood burbled up his throat, over his lips, making him choke as he fell. Landing on his back, the force of impact drove the wood deeper, making David scream as the pointed end moved a fraction closer to his heart.

"No! _No_!"

Beth stood just out of reach, watching as he writhed in agony on the ground.

" _Why_?" He managed through bloodied lips. "Why bring me back just to kill me?"

The blonde hesitated, watching David's body contort in pain. "You and your _stupid promises_ , David. Only _you_ could finish turning me into a vampire."

David snarled, realizing he had been set up from the beginning. Beth had _expected_ him to turn her, to sacrifice her, in order to bring himself back. She had counted on his twisted idea of rewarding her devotion.

"Enjoying your just desserts, David?" Maria smiled as she came around the side of the fountain, the gun lowered but still in her hand. The black-haired young woman leaned into his view, making sure she could see him. David roared in anger, trying to swipe at Maria with his talons, screaming again when he couldn't get his arm to reach due to the driftwood in his back. Beth had pierced him like an insect being prepared for display.

"You _bitch_!" David yelled at both of them. Maria's smile widened more as she laughed at the incapacitated vampire. Beth looked away.

"You really thought we'd let you come back and take control? Really, David, are you truly that naïve?" Maria shook her head. "I didn't want to interrupt your eternal damnation, since I knew you'd come back doubly smug and twice as reckless as before. But Beth wanted her immortality."

David stared at the blonde, his gaze burning with anger, betrayal. " _I trusted you_!"

"As did Adam when Eve handed him the apple." Beth reminded him, her eyes finally meeting his. She was frowning but he could see the anguish in her eyes. If he could just play on that...

Maria tsked. "Don't bother, David. No one here is going to save you."

"Beth!" David ignored Maria, trying to reach out towards the blonde vampire, stymied by the driftwood in his back. Something hard and metal smashed into his face, giving him a nosebleed, the back of his head hitting the dirt floor.

" _I said_ _don't bother_ , David!" Maria yelled, again aiming it the gun the head vampire. "I worked for Max for years, decades. I know how vampires tick; I know your strengths and weaknesses. I got tired of slaving away for empty promises. When Max decided he wanted Lucy, I knew he'd finally gone crackers and I'd get shunted farther down the line, once he had his darling little wife to be a new mother to you Boys."

Maria's pretty face grew into a dark scowl. "I never wanted to be a vampire. Being a ghoul was peachy! A long life with wealth to match suits me just fine. But Beth here, she pointed out all the loose ends I'd have to tie up before I could abscond with the cash."

"The Emersons, the Frogs, the ghouls." David labored to speak the list aloud, blood spilling over his lips, dribbling down his chin.

"Actually, no, just the ghouls were in my way." Maria shrugged. "The Emersons and the Frog brothers didn't matter to me. They'd moved on, tried to return to normal lives after their supernatural encounter. Even the grandfather let sleeping dogs lie! I wouldn't have bothered with him, _any of them_ , except Marko pushed and pushed."

Beth moved into David's line of sight but didn't look at him. "I struggled so hard to raise Marko from death. He wasn't right, wasn't the same, after I succeeded. All he talked about was you and revenge. He never shut up about it."

"Imagine my surprise when Marko told us he didn't know a damn thing about what happened that night!" Maria yelled angrily. "That he'd died in the cave because some little punk staked him and the three of you didn't kill them then and there!"

David snarled but said nothing. He'd tried to kill Sam Emerson but had been pulled into the sunlight, burning his hand in the process.

"He remembered enough to figure out it was the Frogs." Beth continued. "So we burned down the comic shop, kidnapped the brothers, and Marko tortured them until we got information."

"Seems like a ridiculously complicated plan just to learn where they buried me."

Maria snorted. "It freaking _snowballed_."

"Only because Marko would get suspicious." Beth sighed. "When Edgar finally told him where they'd buried you, Paul, and Dwayne, I had something to distract him, to keep him from questioning everything. He had _you_ to focus on, David. That's how we learned about the holy water in the bathtub. What it did to Paul. Because Marko tortured the information out of Edgar."

"And it gave us the out we were looking for. A way to put Marko down, remove the ghouls from wanting their share of Max's money, and the key to freedom." Maria smiled sweetly.

"Only, it didn't go that way, did it, Maria? Beth brought me back." David smiled in return, his lips smeared crimson. Maria scowled.

"She was only supposed to force Michael to dig his own grave, by hurting Star. Marko told me in the car as we drove over, what Beth really had planned. I can't believe you, girl! Why would you ever want to bring his ass back to earth? He's _never_ loved you, _never_ been good to you!"

Beth looked at David as she spoke. "The heart wants what the heart wants."

"That's just dumb, Beth." Maria shook her head. "I should shoot you for that, I don't need another vampire telling me what to do, there's no reason for you to-"

Maria didn't get to finish, as Beth jumped her. The gun went off; Beth screamed but didn't go down, the bullet exiting through her lower left side. The two women struggled, Maria desperately trying to fend off the female vampire and reload the gun.

She didn't get a chance.

David heard the sick snap sound as it rang weakly off the rock walls of the cave. The young African-America woman's body sagged, the gun falling from her hand to the dirt. Beth released her grip and Maria fell away, her gaze already turning glassy with death.

" _That_ was for Marko." Beth growled at the corpse.

"Beth!" David called out to the blonde, struggling on the ground, the pain growing worse with movement. "I forgive you!"

"Forgive me for what?" The blonde vampire turned halfway towards David, her fingers touching the bleeding bullet wound absently.

"For removing me from the equation! I understand why you did it, to protect me from Maria! For... _this_." David would have gestured to the piece of wood stuck in his back but couldn't. "Now take it out."

"No."

There was a moment's silence as her refusal was processed. "No? What do you mean, _no_?!"

Beth shook her head as she turned around fully to look at David, her fingers digging into the wound to pry out the spent slug. She tossed the deformed piece of metal into the dirt at David's feet. "No, David. Only one vampire can control Santa Carla and that vampire is _me_."


	34. "everything's just black or burning sun"

David lay, listening. His wound, much to his frustration, was only designed to incapacitate, not kill him. The bleeding had slowed when his hyperphysical healing tried to kick in, but the fact he hadn't had any blood except what he'd drunk from Beth hours earlier made the process slow and difficult.

Clearly he should have read those books of hers. Or maybe burned them, since Beth was using her knowledge of the supernatural against him. If only he had listened to her, when she'd chided him about his ignorance.

"Why?" He asked aloud, his voice weak to his own ears, as Beth passed by where he lay. She was carrying various items to the broken fountain, mostly wood and other flammable materials, arranging them around the remains of the other three vampires.

Beth paused, sparing him a glance, her expression clouded and unreadable. " _Why?_ Because you're an asshole, David."

"There's more to it than just _that_." David snorted, trying to ball his hands into fists and finding his arms had gone numb. "Was it because I didn't love you the way you wanted?"

It was Beth's turn to snort, waving a hand at him in dismissal. "Hell no! I've always known you're incapable of that, of _any_ kind of romance. It's just not in you to love someone that isn't yourself. Occasionally you might care, you can show kindness, but never love."

"Then what?" David asked flatly, his upper lip curling. "Being second in command wasn't enough?"

"Why would I want to serve the king when I could be queen in my own right?"

"Queen Elizabeth of Santa Carla, huh."

Beth smiled brightly, the double fangs visible. "Has a nice ring to it, doesn't it. The first Queen Elizabeth never married, never shared her kingdom. Brilliant woman; she knew a man would ruin everything."

David couldn't help but roll his eyes. "So you killed everybody else and pushed me out of your way. Who's going to help you? Who's going to do the dirty work you need done?"

"I've done a lot of dirty work with my own hands, David." Beth reminded him. "For you, for the Lost Boys, for Max. Getting dirty doesn't bother me. I'm far more efficient by myself, _alone_."

"You still need me."

"Correction: I _wanted_ you, but I don't _need_ you, David." Beth leaned over his prone form, smoothing a smudge of dirt from his cheek tenderly. "You would never share Santa Carla with me, as my consort or my second."

Growling, David snapped at her, trying to bite her hand. Beth moved out of the way, too fast for him. She shook her head.

"I know you had to try, just like the old man did."

Glaring at the blonde darkly, David laid his head back and closed his eyes. Whatever Beth was planning to do to him, it would be over soon.

***

Time passed. David lost track. His eyes snapped open only because his supernatural senses were flooding him with panic, warnings of impending danger. Looking up at the top of the cave, the vampire could see bright light. Sunlight was slowly beginning to fill the space of the cave.

"No, _no_!" He whispered through parched lips, his eyes wild. Struggling, he tried to get up, only to realize he had been removed from his place in the dirt. Plastic crinkled, liquid squelched out into the earth, the putrid smell filling the air. Turning his head, David came face to face with Maria's dead-eyed corpse. Beth had arranged him on a funeral pyre; she intended to burn him, and the rest, to ash.

"No!

"Should have just stayed asleep, David. It would have been more peaceful that way."

David heard a creaking sound, turning his head to look in its direction. Beth was sitting in his wicker and metal wheelchair, _his_ _throne_ , pushing on the wheels to roll over towards the fountain. She grinned at him, her face all angles and fangs, in spite of the looming sunlight.

"Y'know, your little experiment worked too well, David. I walked in the sun without problem as a half vampire, half ghoul. And I still can, even though you turned me into a full vampire. Thanks for that, it's the only real gift you ever gave me."

The vampire stared, his eyes wild as his mind ran over the ramifications of this new knowledge. "You can walk in the sunlight?"

Beth nodded, getting up from the wheelchair. "But seeing is believing, isn't it? Let me demonstrate." She rose into the air, hovering, until she reached the crack in the rock wall where the sunshine streamed in. Looking down at David, she stuck a hand in first, the warm light illuminating her pale skin.

It didn't burn her, didn't even singe her skin.

"It's not possible," David whispered in disbelief.

"Oh, it is." Beth replied, rising higher until she was floating fully in the sunlight. She let David watch as she spun around slowly in the open air, immersed in the one natural weapon humans could always rely on to kill a vampire. Nothing happened to her.

Floating back down to where David lay, Beth stood on the edge of the broken fountain, looking down at the prone Lost Boy. "Unknowingly you figured out how the old vampires were so strong. All the power is in the blood, the order in which it is received. You made me the perfect vampire, David."

The vampire's eyes closed briefly as he shook his head. "So unfair... you don't deserve this gift..."

"The time of you dictating what I do and don't deserve is over, David." Beth frowned, her fangs visible over her bottom lip. "When you die, the Lost Boys will truly be forgotten."

Cracking an eye open, David looked to see how farther the sunlight had progressed into the cave. It was steadily growing closer, his subconscious screaming warnings, trying to make him flee. He hadn't the strength or motor control. This was it. He was going to die atop the pile of what remained of his friends, beside the corpse of a traitor.

Seconds sped by, minutes passed. The warm glow in the cave grew as the sunlight dropped farther down the walls. David could feel its heat even though it had yet to reach him.

Soon enough, thin trails of smoke began to rise off his body. The dazzling brightness hurt his eyes, made his vision blurry. He couldn't remember the last time he'd fully seen the sun, been in it. The pain was multiplied, far worse than when he'd burned his hand trying to kill the younger Emerson brother.

There was a muffled sound as his body began to burn, catching his clothes on fire. Flames ignited visibly on his precious coat. David realized he'd missed a scent that was cloaked under the putrid liquid remains of Paul and Dwayne: gasoline.

Laying his head back, David didn't fight as his body spasmed and jerked, the flames growing as they engulfed his body. The high collar of his coat caught fire, which quickly spread to his hair. Beside him, Maria's clothes and hair burned too, charring her skin, disfiguring her face.

He closed his eyes for a second before opening them again, letting himself be temporarily blinded by the dazzling sunlight that filled the cave. Smoke was now rising in a great plume, making the glow hazy, as the pile of vampire remains below David burned. By now all the combustible material Beth had stacked inside the broken fountain was also alight, fueling the funeral pyre.

Even David had to admit it was kind of a fitting send off.

Using some of his failing strength, David ripped the medallion off the breast of his coat. The metal was hot and the enamel was beginning to discolor due to the heat, but it hadn't warped too badly yet. He looked up, extending his hand towards the blonde. "A token, in remembrance, a parting gift from me to you."

Beth, who had stepped down from the edge of the fountain out of the way of the billowing smoke, looked at the medallion clutched in David's burning hand. The leather glove had already cracked and burnt away, leaving his pale hand blistered and peeling.

"I don't think so, David."

"Please," David managed to catch her gaze with his, pleading. "Please take it. For me."

Beth hesitated. The fire was growing intense, the whole inside of the fountain a raging bonfire, the flames beginning to leap higher into the open air.

"Fine, all right. For you, David." Beth took the short steps forward, closing the gap. Reaching out, she put her open palm under David's outstretched hand, waiting for him to drop the medallion into it.

With a resounding roar, David flung the medallion away, catching Beth's wrist in his burning hand. The blonde shrieked, clawing with her talons as David sunk his own into her pale flesh.

"No!"

"Yes, Beth, _yes_!" David growled, yanking hard, successfully pulling the petite vampire off balance. Beth stumbled, afraid of the flames, but finding nothing to stop her fall. She landed on top of David, her hair and clothing instantly catching fire.

She screamed, the sound choked off as she inhaled the black smoke and began to cough. David wrapped his arms around her torso, holding her tightly to his chest. Beth struggled but couldn't find purchase, no way to break free of David's grasp. David watched the corn silk colored hair burn and singe, before it broke off in chunks and fell into the flames. Meeting her blue eyes with his own, David smirked his final smirk.

"You're coming with me, Tink."

 

**THE END**


	35. Epilogue

**DEATHS OF TEENAGERS PUZZLE AUTHORITIES**  
\- _Santa Carla Sentinel, November 7 th, 1987_

_Santa Carla police are still trying to figure out what killed several local young persons Friday morning. Three bodies - two male and one female, all in their early-to-mid-twenties - were found in a house in the Quartz Cliffs area of unincorporated Santa Carla County._

_An anonymous tipster led police to search the home, finding the victims inside. There were no signs of forced entry or burglary. Police are remaining tight-lipped about the causes of death, though stress that citizens should not be alarmed. An update on the case, pending completed autopsy results from the county coroner’s office, is expected on Monday. At this time, an inside source who spoke with the Santa Carla Sentinel on the condition of anonymity said foul play is not suspected and this tragedy appears to have been some kind of ritualistic suicide._

_Bob Donner, owner and president of local business ‘Donner Doors & Floors’ and a longtime resident of Santa Carla, resides several house down from the crime scene. Mr Donner told the Santa Carla Sentinel that he had voiced repeated complaints to local authorities about the home’s occupants through the last few years._

_“Yeah, there were a lot of kids coming and going at all hours sometimes. The cops told me they’d look into it but nothing was ever done. It got real bad again, right before school started up. I think they were doing drugs and God knows what else in that house.” said Mr. Donner._

_An investigation into who owned the home turned up a property title in the name of local businessman, Maximillian Gilmore, who owns and operates Max’s Video located on the Santa Carla wharf. His video rental store remains closed and appears to have been so since Wednesday, according to other business owners._

_“I haven’t seen Max around in weeks,” Jim Jeremias said, when asked about Mr. Gilmore. “The store was open and operating like normal, though. I think he’s up in Los Gatos, opening that second store he was always talking about.”_

_Repeated attempts to contact Mr. Gilmore were unsuccessful. Inquiries made by the Santa Carla Sentinel found there were no property deeds or lease agreements in Mr. Gilmore’s name recorded in the Los Gatos city records._

_The names of the victims have yet to be released, pending notification of next of kin._

_\--_

**ARSON SUSPECTED IN LOCAL FIRE, SUSPECTS AT LARGE**  
_\- Santa Carla Sentinel, November 13 th, 1987_

_Santa Carla police are seeking any eyewitnesses who may have information about a large fire set among the ruins of a once popular resort built near Hudson’s bluff._

_A large plume of black smoke trailed out over the Pacific Ocean last Sunday morning, the result of a fire set inside the caved-in remains of the Sandy Point Resort. Once a popular destination among the wealthy elite, the Sandy Point Resort was destroyed during the Great Earthquake in 1906. The ruined remains have been off-limits since the 1960s, though local teenagers and homeless vagrants are known to occasionally venture inside._

_The smoke was spotted by vigilant citizens who alerted local authorities. Once on scene, fire crews took a defensive position and let the fire burn itself out, as the safety of personnel, lack of hydrants due to the remote location, and inaccessibility made it near impossible to run hoses in to douse the flames._

_Fire officials later determined a large amount of debris were piled into the center of the open part of the cave and lit on fire, sometime between Friday and Saturday. It appeared that persons were occupying the ruins and using it as a living space, due to the amount of items found arranged inside the cave. Whether these persons escaped or not is yet to be determined. An inside source, who spoke with the Santa Carla Sentinel on the condition of anonymity, revealed that human remains were found at the center of the burn pile._

_When asked if this suspicious fire could be related to the mysterious deaths of three young people at a home in the Quartz Cliff neighborhood, fire and police officials had no comment, citing this as an open and ongoing investigation._

_Due to the continuing investigation as well as the unstable nature of the ruins, a twenty-four hour police presence is being kept at the scene, to keep unauthorized persons out. Once the investigation is complete, city officials plan to bulldoze the wooden staircase that is used as an access point to the ruins at the base of the cliff as well as install concrete barriers that will bar motorized transport from coming too near to the cliff’s edge._

_If you have any information or witnessed suspicious activity during November 6th and 7th near the ruins, please contact Det. Mike Chapman at the Santa Cruz Police department at 555-5901._


End file.
